Byron woman sentenced for stealing from COVID-19 relief: Ordered to repay over $550k – wgxa.tv

Byron woman sentenced for stealing from COVID-19 relief: Ordered to repay over $550k

by BRANDON MCGOUIRK | WGXA News

FILE - In this April 23, 2020, file photo, President Donald Trump's name is seen on a stimulus check issued by the IRS to help combat the adverse economic effects of the COVID-19 outbreak, in San Antonio. Hundreds of thousands of dollars in coronavirus relief payments have been sent to people behind bars across the United States, and now the IRS is asking state officials to help claw back the cash that the federal tax agency says was mistakenly sent. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)

PEACH COUNTY, Ga. (WGXA) -- A Byron woman was sentenced to nearly three years in prison and ordered to pay back hundreds of thousands of dollars of COVID-19 relief funds after pleading guilty to fraud.

Gladys Harun was charged with stealing almost $300,000 from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act's Paycheck Protection Program in July of 2022 after she provided "false and altered" supporting documents to a California-based lender.

Now, she has been sentenced to 60 months in prison and ordered by the court to repay over $552,000 in restitution.

Harun used her knowledge as a tax preparer to fraudulently obtain hundreds of thousands of dollars in funds intended for small businesses struggling financially during the COVID-19 pandemic, said U.S. Attorney Jill Steinberg. Such greed-fueled theft from government programs hurts businesses legitimately in need of vital relief efforts.

Court records show that Harun was a tax preparation service franchisee with multiple locations throughout the state and admittedly lied to investigators from the Small Business Administration Office of the Inspector General about applications she filed for herself and others, including customers, and had actually gained more than $550,000 in fraudulent funds from the California lender.

Gladys Harun was also ordered to serve an additional three years of supervised released following her time in prison.

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