St. Louis Man Sentenced to 27 Months in Prison for Pandemic Loan Fraud

ST. LOUIS - U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Clark on Wednesday sentenced a St. Louis man who fraudulently obtained more than $629,000 in pandemic relief loans to 27 months in prison and ordered him to repay the money.

Shahron Vaulx, 41, submitted eight fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program loan applications between May 2020 and June 2021, "essentially stealing money intended for those struggling with the pandemic," a sentencing memo says. The applications, submitted in the names of Fortunnett Financial LLC, SD Incorporation LLC, SV Collections LLC and SD Marketing LLC, contained false information about monthly payroll and the number of company employees. Vaulx submitted fake tax forms to support the payroll and income claims, which were falsely inflated to increase the amount of the loans.

After the loans were approved, Vaulx withdrew cash, transferred money to others, made personal retail purchases and paid bills with the money. He later applied for loan forgiveness, falsely claiming that he used the loans on permissible business expenses.

"The only explanation for (Vaulx') crime is greed," the sentencing memo says, citing his substantial positive monthly cash flow and gross monthly income of $25,000 at the time of his crimes.

Judge Clark ordered Vaulx to repay $629,809.

"This case highlights the United States Secret Service's commitment to aggressively target individuals who have taken advantage of federal pandemic programs," said Special Agent in Charge Travis Gibson of the U.S. Secret Service - St. Louis Field Office.

Vaulx pleaded guilty in January to two counts of wire fraud.

The U.S. Secret Service investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Gwen Carroll and Stephen Casey prosecuted the case.