A Springfield business owner was indicted by a grand jury for more than $300,000 in COVID relief funds fraud and laundering more than $35,000 of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funds.
Jason Hemingway, 47, was charged with two counts of bank fraud and making a false statement on a loan application, as well as three counts of money laundering, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Missouri.
Hemingway allegedly applied for a PPP loan for Principal Transfer Group, LLC in February 2021. On the application, prosecutors say Hemingway gave false statements including that another individual owned Principal Transfer Group and that the business had an average payroll of more than $63,000 and employed 25 people.
Hemingway uses PPP loans for personal benefit, according to the indictment
Hemingway received about $158,000 in PPP loans, according to the release. PPP gave forgivable loans to small businesses to keep operations going during the pandemic, including employee pay, mortgage interest payments, lease payments and utility payments.
In April 2021, Hemingway applied for a second PPP loan for Principal Transfer Group, according to the release. Hemingway allegedly made false statements on that application as well and received another $158,000 in PPP loan proceeds.
According to the release, Hemingway used the PPP loans for personal benefit, including transferring $11,000 of the funds into the account for another business Hemingway owned, 417 Print Shop LLC. He also allegedly transferred $11,000 of funds to his personal bank account and more than $13,000 into a stock trading account.
The charges are accusations, and not evidence of guilt, which must be presented to a federal trial jury, according to the release. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Casey Clark. It was investigated by the IRS-Criminal Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The number listed on Google for 417 Print Shop has been disconnected as of Dec. 17.
Ryan Collins
Ryan Collins is the business and economic development reporter for the Springfield Daily Citizen. Collins graduated from Glendale High School in 2011 before studying journalism and economics at the University of Missouri-Columbia. He previously worked for Bloomberg News. Contact him at (417) 849-2570 or [email protected]. More by Ryan Collins
