Federal grand jury indicts North Texas woman in $680,000 COVID fraud and money laundering scheme

DALLAS - United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Ryan Raybould announced that a federal grand jury returned a 10-count indictment against a North Texas resident for allegedly defrauding pandemic relief programs of more than $680,000.

April Watson, 50, also known as "April Watson Horton" and "April Shawnette Watson," is charged with four counts of wire fraud, two counts of bank fraud, and four counts of engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from specified unlawful activity (money laundering).

"Emergency relief programs were enacted as a vital lifeline to keep struggling businesses afloat during the pandemic-not to subsidize private home construction and luxury purchases," said U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould. "Falsifying tax records and treating emergency small business relief like a personal lottery ticket is a serious federal crime that leaves Main Street Americans shouldering the burden. This office and our law enforcement partners remain steadfast in hunting down pandemic-era fraud and holding these bad actors accountable."

"COVID loan fraud is heinous. Criminals fraudulently applied for and received the money that honest people needed to keep their businesses alive," said IRS-CI Texas Field Office Special Agent in Charge Christopher J. Altemus Jr. "We are the nation's premiere criminal financial investigators. When you commit financial crimes, you will lose your money and your freedom."

According to court documents, between April 2020 and October 2021, Watson allegedly engaged in a scheme to fraudulently secure Paycheck Protection Program loans and Economic Injury Disaster Loans through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act. Watson submitted fraudulent applications on behalf of several entities she owned and operated, including Exotic Bliss Beauty LLC, Brain Evolution LLC and Southern Home Ventures, LLC.

To support the applications, Watson allegedly fabricated and submitted false payroll summaries and fictitious IRS documents-including W-2 and W-3 forms purportedly prepared by an outside payroll company. In reality, no payroll forms had been generated by the company, and no business tax returns related to wages or gross revenues for the businesses had been filed with the IRS for 2019 or 2020.

Based on the fraudulent submissions, Watson secured substantial payouts across multiple lenders:

• $210,698 in PPP loans disbursed by Kabbage, Inc.;
• $299,800 in EIDL funds disbursed directly by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA); and
• $169,994 in additional PPP funding disbursed by JPMorgan Chase

The indictment further alleges that Watson engaged in illegal monetary transactions using the fraud proceeds, including transferring over $114,000 toward the construction of a personal residence in Cedar Hill and wiring $40,000 to an individual associate.

Watson had her initial appearance in court Oct. 23. If convicted, the defendant faces statutory penalties of:

• Up to 20 years in federal prison for each count of wire fraud;
• Up to 30 years in federal prison for each count of bank fraud; and
• Up to 10 years in federal prison for each count of unlawful monetary transactions.

The government is also seeking the forfeiture of a residence located at 324 Terrace Lane in Cedar Hill, along with a monetary judgment for the full value of the illicit proceeds.

IRS Criminal Investigation and Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation as part the Dallas El Dorado Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorney Elise Aldendifer from the Fraud Section is prosecuting the case.

An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

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