SAVANNAH, Ga. — A U.S. Army officer stationed at a Georgia base faces up to five years in prison for her alleged involvement in a fraudulent COVID-19 relief scheme, prosecutors said Friday.
According to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Georgia, Dara Buck, 39, of Ladson, South Carolina, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States.
Prosecutors said that Buck, who is stationed at Fort Stewart as a chief warrant officer 2, was the leader of a group that obtained millions of dollars from COVID-19 relief programs and federal student loan forgiveness, WSAV-TV reported.
Fort Stewart soldier faces 5 years in prison for leading COVID-19 fraud scheme https://t.co/tbZCrOpSNz via @WSAV
— WSAV News 3 (@WSAV) July 15, 2022
Prosecutors said that from August 2017 through May 2021, Buck led a conspiracy to secure federal student loans using falsified disability claims. The group was also accused of fraudulently obtaining funding from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).
Buck admitted submitting more than 150 fraudulent PPP loan applications to the Small Business Administration for herself and others in the conspiracy, resulting in more than $3.5 million paid, prosecutors said. Buck directly received fraudulently obtained PPP funding, or was paid by conspirators, for submitting their fraudulent applications.
In addition, conspirators paid Buck to submit falsified U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs certifications for total and permanent disability to the U.S. Department of Education, prosecutors said. That enabled her to fraudulently obtain the discharge of more than a dozen student loans totaling more than $1 million.
“Dara Buck swore an oath to protect and defend her country, and then engaged in a massive scheme to defraud the nation’s taxpayers,” U.S. Attorney David H. Estes said in a statement. “She is now being held accountable for this fraud and betrayal, thanks to the diligence of our civilian and military law enforcement partners.”
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