OXFORD, Miss — According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, a Memphis man was sentenced on Tuesday to over five years in prison for Covid-19 relief fraud.
Norman Beckwood, 29, of Memphis was convicted for his role in recruiting people to defraud the Small Business Administration (“SBA”) by submitting fraudulent loan applications for over $11 million.
According to court documents, Beckwood and his co-conspirator, Lakeith Faulker, who was an employee of the SBA and used his position at the SBA to assist borrowers, helped submit over $11 million in fraudulent Economic Injury Disaster Loans (“EIDL”). In return for their assistance in the fraudulent loans, the borrowers paid Beckwood and Faulkner $2.3 million.
On December 7, 2022, Faulkner entered a plea of guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. On May 24, 2023, United States District Judge Debra M. Brown sentenced Faulkner to serve over five years' imprisonment followed by five years of supervised release. In addition to prison time, Faulkner was ordered to pay $10,620,452.26 in restitution to the SBA.
On Jan. 17, 2023, Beckwood also entered a guilty plea to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Sharion Aycock sentenced Beckwood to serve over five years in prison followed by five years of supervised release. Beckwood was also ordered to pay $10,620,452.26 in restitution to the SBA. In connection with his guilty plea, Beckwood also forfeited $700,147.74, a 2018 Mercedez Benz C Class and a 2020 Mercedes Benz G63.
21 individual borrowers have also been charged in connection with the same scheme.
“Norman Beckwood and his cohorts stole millions of dollars from American taxpayers while taking advantage of programs designed to help keep businesses afloat during a national crisis,” said U.S. Attorney Clay Joyner. “Our office will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to bring those who committed pandemic benefit fraud to justice and will use all available tools to recover the stolen funds.”
