Kansas City, Missouri – A Missouri woman from Kansas City has admitted in federal court that she fraudulently obtained hundreds of thousands of dollars in pandemic relief funds intended to help struggling businesses during the COVID-19 crisis.
Ashli Forbes, 40, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Greg Kays to charges of wire fraud and money laundering after authorities determined she secured two Paycheck Protection Program loans totaling $426,600 through false information and fabricated financial documents.
The loans were part of the federal relief program created under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, which aimed to help small businesses survive the severe economic disruption caused by the pandemic.
According to the Department of Justice, Forbes submitted loan applications in April 2020 for Forbes Realty Company LLC, a business she owned. The documents claimed the company had an average monthly payroll of more than $82,000.
Supporting records also listed $240,000 in Medicare wages for 2019. Investigators later determined that Forbes’ 2019 tax return showed no income from the company, and she did not file a tax return for 2020.
Commerce Bank transmitted the loan application from Kansas City to the Small Business Administration in Sterling, Virginia. Shortly afterward, Forbes Realty Company received a $206,200 loan deposit into its account in May 2020.
Authorities said Forbes submitted a second application two months later for another business she owned, Left Lane Motors LLC. The June 2020 application reported an average monthly payroll of nearly $80,000 and included tax forms claiming more than $1.3 million in gross receipts and substantial wages. Investigators later found that the forms provided to support the application had never been filed with the Internal Revenue Service.
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That application resulted in a second PPP loan of $220,400, which was deposited into the company’s account later that month.
Federal prosecutors said part of the fraud proceeds were later moved between accounts. In January 2021, Forbes transferred $20,000 from the Forbes Realty Company account to pay an insurance bill, an action that formed the basis of the money-laundering charge.
As part of her plea agreement, Forbes also acknowledged submitting or assisting with fraudulent PPP applications tied to four additional businesses, bringing the total amount of fraudulent loans to more than $1.36 million.
Under federal law, she faces a potential sentence of up to 30 years in prison without parole. The final sentence will be determined by the court after considering federal sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors.
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The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul S. Becker. Investigators with the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation division and the Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department handled the investigation.
