5 Indicted including SCDC Inmate for $1.1M Wire Fraud Scheme

COLUMBIA, S.C. - A federal grand jury in Columbia returned a 13-count indictment, presented by the U.S. Attorney's Office, charging five individuals with wire fraud, aiding and abetting, and destruction of records related to PPP loans.

• Joshua Maiden, 42, an inmate currently incarcerated in the South Carolina Department of Corrections
• Julie Connelly, 36, of Milford, Delaware
• Crystal Adams, 48, of Harrington, Delaware
• Jillian Brooks, 38, of Dover, Delaware
• Tessa Hess, 43, of Murrells Inlet, S.C.

The indictment alleges that from January to December 2021, the defendants engaged in a scheme to apply for PPP loans pursuant to the CARES Act, a program through which taxpayers provided relief to businesses suffering during the COVID-19 pandemic. In applying for the loans, Maiden, Connelly, Adams, and Brooks each falsely represented that they owned businesses that were eligible for PPP loans and subsequent loan forgiveness. However, the investigation revealed the defendants did not own the businesses they claimed in their PPP applications, and the documentation submitted in support of the loans was fraudulent. Maiden falsely claimed that he owned a landscaping business through which he earned more than $84,000 in revenue the previous year, and he collected a portion of his co-defendant's fraudulent loans, all while being a state prisoner. The indictment further alleges that Hess possessed identification-making equipment used in the scheme and attempted to destroy the equipment when the FBI requested that she surrender it to authorities.

In total, the defendants are alleged to have applied for fraudulent PPP loans totaling $1,182,832.

Each defendant faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, a three-year term of supervised release and a $100 special assessment per count of conviction. The defendants are scheduled to be arraigned before the Honorable Thomas E. Rogers, III on May 5.

The case was investigated by the FBI Columbia Field Office and the South Carolina Department of Corrections. Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Matthews is prosecuting the case.

All charges in the indictment are merely accusations and defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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