The daughter of the former mayor of Broward County has been arrested for allegedly defrauding hundreds of thousands of dollars from a federal COVID-19 relief program.
Damara Holness stands accused of lying to acquire $300,000 in forgivable PPP loan money from the federal government. Her father, Dale Holness, presided over the county during the first year of the pandemic.
According to officials, Holness, who calls herself a political consultant, “falsely stated that Holness Consulting had 18 employees and had an average monthly payroll of $120,000” on her June 2020 loan application.
The application also stated “Holness Consulting paid wages of $1,440,000” in 2019. However, according to the state, the business was dissolved in 2020 but reinstated on June 22, 2020, a few days before the loan application was submitted.
On the loan application, investigators said Holness used her father’s campaign headquarters as her business address.
Federal investigators said from July to September 2020, “Defendant Holness began issuing checks to persons in order to make it appear as if Holness Consulting had full-time employees and was complying with the conditions of the PPP loan. At the direction of the defendant Holness, the persons receiving the checks endorsed the checks and returned the checks to defendant Holness.”
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Isn't this more than "Lying?" It sure sounds like Money Laundering and sure looks like Money Laundering...