Federal grand jury indicts Springfield biz owner for fraud, money laundering

A federal grand jury has indicted a Springfield business owner for fraudulently obtaining over $300,000 in loans through the Paycheck Protection Program and laundering over $35,000 of the funds.

Jason L. Hemingway, 47, was charged with two counts each of bank fraud and making a false statement on a loan application, along with three counts of money laundering, according to a news release today from the office of R. Matthew Price, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Missouri.

According to the U.S. attorney’s office, Hemingway applied for a PPP loan under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act for his business Principal Transfer Group LLC in both February and April 2021. He received a total of $316,062 in PPP proceeds through the two approved loans.

In both loan applications, Hemingway claimed another individual was the owner of the business, had a monthly payroll of $63,212 and employed 25 people in February 2021 and eight people in April 2021, all of which were false statements, according to the indictment. In the April application, Hemingway certified he had received the previous PPP loan and used the full amount for eligible expenses only. He also allegedly signed the application in the name of the person he claimed was president and owner, who is unnamed in the release.

The indictment alleges Hemingway used the loan proceeds for nonapproved purchases, including his personal benefit. According to the indictment, Hemingway transferred $11,000 of the funds into the bank account for another business he owned, 417 Print Shop LLC, an additional $11,000 of the funds into his personal bank account, and another $13,851 of loan funds to his Robinhood account. Robinhood is a financial services company that allows users to invest and trade in stocks and cryptocurrencies.

A forfeiture allegation is included in the indictment, which would require Hemingway to forfeit to the government any property resulting from the alleged fraud scheme. That includes a money judgment of at least $316,062 plus an additional $35,851 for proceeds obtained from the alleged money laundering scheme.