Michigan couple pleads guilty in $1.2M pandemic fraud scheme

A Southfield, Michigan, couple accused of stealing $1.2 million in pandemic-era relief loans has pleaded guilty, federal prosecutors said. 

Catherine Spidell-Ferguson pleaded guilty on Friday to conspiring to commit bank fraud. Spidell-Ferguson's husband, D'Angelo Ferguson, pleaded guilty to the same charge in January, according to prosecutors. 

Federal prosecutors say D'Angelo Ferguson admitted to submitting three separate Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan applications with false representations and fictitious supporting documents.

Authorities allege D'Angelo Ferguson claimed that each company had a specific amount of monthly income, as well as monthly payroll expenses for some employees. Investigators say the monthly payroll expenses and the number of employees were fictitious and that the documents used to support the monthly income for the companies were false. 

Prosecutors say Spidell-Ferguson admitted to submitting one of the three fraudulent loan applications. The total amount that authorities claim the couple fraudulently obtained in the scheme is roughly $1.2 million. 

"Fraud is a plague on our nation. It takes many forms—and all of them weaken our economy and steal from the American taxpayer. Name a program, and someone is trying to scam it. It is time to make the scammers pay," said U.S. Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon Jr. in a statement. 

A sentencing date has not yet been announced, prosecutors said. Spidell-Ferguson faces up to 30 years in prison without the possibility of parole, up to $1 million in fines and five years of supervised release.

The Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations, investigated the case.