Krista Marie Menchaca, a 32-year-old resident of Cross Lanes, West Virginia, has been sentenced to three years of federal probation and ordered to pay $21,963.96 in restitution for receiving stolen money related to a fraudulent Paycheck Protection Plan (PPP) loan. The PPP loan was guaranteed by the Small Business Administration under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act).
Court documents show that on May 12, 2021, an individual submitted a PPP loan application on Menchaca’s behalf to a lender in Arizona. As part of her guilty plea, Menchaca admitted that both the application and an IRS Form 1040 Schedule C filed with it falsely claimed she was a self-employed health practitioner who earned $93,100 in gross income during 2020. She further acknowledged that the IRS form was fabricated solely to obtain the fraudulent loan.
The lender approved the application and deposited $19,395 into Menchaca’s personal bank account around July 2, 2021. While living in West Virginia, she spent more than $5,000 of these funds on personal expenses.
The CARES Act provided forgivable PPP loans for sole proprietors and self-employed individuals affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Applicants had to certify their business operations as of February 15, 2020 and provide documentation of prior gross income from either 2019 or 2020.
Acting United States Attorney Lisa G. Johnston announced the sentence and recognized the investigative work conducted by the West Virginia State Police – Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI). “Senior United States District Judge David A. Faber imposed the sentence,” according to court records. Assistant United States Attorney Jonathan T. Storage prosecuted this case.
Anyone with information about fraud involving COVID-19 relief programs is encouraged to report it through the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud Hotline at 866-720-5721 or online at https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.
Further details about this case can be found by searching Case No. 2:25-cr-68 on PACER.
