U.S. Justice Dept: Olympic medalist lied about having employees to get PPP COVID-19 money

It’s no secret that when the COVID-19 pandemic started two years ago, some business owners lied about their company’s losses to get COVID-19 relief money. There were trillions of dollars available and thousands of applicants. The government seemed more than willing to dole it out, and in all the confusion it seemed all too easy.

But for the past several months, federal agents with the U.S. Secret Service—the law enforcement apparatus of the Treasury Department that is responsible for hunting counterfeiters and fraudsters, is on the case, and scammers are being prosecuted by the Justice Department.

Already, the Small Business Administration has reported some companies have returned a total of $30 billion in loans. U.S. authorities became alarmed that some small business owners were taking advantage of the situation when the initial $349 allocated for the program by Congress, evaporated within 13 days.

In an indictment filed in December, federal authorities charged Allison Marie Baver, a former Olympic speedskater with eight counts of making a false statement to a bank and one count of money laundering, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Utah.

On Wednesday, she pleaded not guilty at an arraignment in federal court.

Baver was once a gorgeous American superstar whose story is the stuff of Hollywood magic. The former Penn State student competed in three consecutive Olympic games in 2002, 2006 and 2010, ultimately taking home a victory for the United States.

After speaking at the 2002 Olympic Games, she won five Gold Cup medals 2004, achieved fifth place in two World Short Track Championships in 2007, was a U.S. overall gold medalist in 2008 and won four World Cup Bronze medals in 2008.

The now 41-year old competed for the women’s 3000m relay in 2006, and then in the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, Canada nearly a year after she shattered her ankle and broke her leg in multiple places during a competition in Bulgaria. But that didn’t stop her. The stunning brunette Olympian skater kept training and ultimately won a bronze medal for the United States.

After that, she fell during the women’s 1000m first race semifinals at the Short Track US single Distance Championship in Aug. 2013 at the Olympic Oval in Kearns, Utah, but made a comeback the following year by competing in the ladies 1,000 meter time trial during the U.S. Olympic Short Track Trials at the Utah Olympic Oval in 2014 in Salt Lake City.

But in the twilight of her skating career, Baver started her own entertainment company—Allison Baver Entertainment, which she has described as “the engine behind stories that move the needle. We are the purpose-driven across film, television, and lifestyle endeavors.” The company’s website also says it “empowers visionaries, creators and entrepreneurs to achieve greatness,” in film and television.

One of the projects Baver was investing in was a movie about 1970’s serial rapist and killer Ted Bundy, federal law enforcement officials said Thursday. Bundy was executed in Florida by electric chair in 1989 after he confessed to killing at least 36 women across several states although police believe he may have killed up to 100 people.

But federal prosecutors now say that project was paid for with money she obtained by lying on loan applications to fraudulently procuring $10 million from the Paycheck Protection Program. Baver allegedly made false claims in PPP applications that her entertainment company had an average monthly payroll of $4 million and 105 employees, according to the indictment filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Utah.

The purpose of the PPP program was designed to help employers keep employees working during the pandemic so the money was supposed to flow from the U.S. through the employer to the employee. The program began in 2020 under the CARES Act and ended on May 31, 2021.

Prosecutors allege Baver made false claims in some applications seeking PPP funding for her entertainment company by saying she had between 100 and 430 workers when in fact she had no employees at all or monthly payroll.

In May 2020, one of the banks, Meridian, approved a $10 million loan for her company, and two months later she transferred $150,000 to another production company that produced a movie called, “No Man of God,” starring Elijah Wood, according to the indictment. That film explores the relationship between Bundy and FBI Special Agent Bill Hagmaier. 

The U.S. Attorney’s Office wants Baver to return $9.7 million of the money according to local Utah radio station  KTSU. If convicted on all counts she could face up to 40 years in prison.

Recovering fraudulently obtained PPP money has become a federal priority. Last month, data compiled by the U.S. Secret Service, SBA and Labor Department indicated about $100 billion was falsely obtained from COVID-19 relief funds, a number that does not even include all the COVID-19 fraud cases being prosecuted by the Justice Department.

According to the U.S. Secret Service, as much as 3% of the $3.4 trillion in federal COVID-19 relief money was stolen in fraudulent schemes.

Roy Dotson, the Secret Service Special Agent in charge said the amount of massive amounts of money readily available in the panic was an alluring prospect for criminals.

“Every state has been hit, some harder than others,” he said, according to a FOX News report. “The Secret Service is hitting the ground running, trying to recover everything we can, including funds stolen from both federal and state programs.”

The Justice Department has encouraged people who have information to fill out complaint forms on their website so they can follow up and investigate.