Miami Woman Charged With Receiving Fraudulent Pandemic Loan

MIAMI (CBSMiami/AP) - A Miami woman is accused of stealing the personal information of a Massachusetts resident so she could fraudulently obtain a pandemic-related federal loan that she then used for a private flight to California and stays at luxury hotels.

Danielle Miller, 31, was charged Tuesday with wire fraud, according to the U.S. attorney's office in Boston.

Miller accessed the alleged victim's online Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles records and used the personal identifying information to open a bank account in that person's name, prosecutors said.

Miller then applied for and in August received a more than $100,000 Economic Injury Disaster Loan through the U.S. Small Business Administration, prosecutors said.

She used the money for a private flight from Florida to California, using a counterfeit Massachusetts driver's license in the alleged victim's name but bearing Miller's photograph, and for stays at luxury hotels, prosecutors said.

Miller then posted pictures of herself at the hotels on Instagram, authorities said.

She also applied for up to $900,000 in other fraudulent loans, prosecutors said.

If convicted, she faces 20 years in prison.

Fraud