North Carolina couple sentenced for COVID relief fraud, embezzling more than $200k from booster club
Couple to spend more than a year in prison after being convicted of stealing from a high school booster club and trying to cover up the tracks with COVID relief money.
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North Carolina couple was sentenced to prison this week for embezzling $239,000 from a Charlotte high school’s booster club.
The husband, who attempted to cover up their tracks with COVID-19 relief funds, was sentenced to additional time.
Former South Mecklenburg High School athletic booster club President Anthony Sharper, 42, of Charlotte was sentenced on Monday to 30 months in prison, followed by two years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay a money judgment of $310,832.80, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Western District of North Carolina.
The United States currency. (iStock / iStock)
Deana Sharper, 47, was sentenced to 21 months in prison and two years of supervised release. She is also ordered to pay a money judgment in the amount of $239,742.80.
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According to court documents, the couple followed through with a scheme to embezzle at least $239,000 from the school’s booster club by writing themselves checks for reimbursement.
The Sharpers also wired funds to their personal bank account and paid for personal expenditures using the club’s debit and credit cards.
On top of that, Anthony Sharper, who by profession is a certified public accountant, committed tax fraud by not reporting any of the stolen funds to the IRS in 2018 and 2019.
PPP fraud (iStock / iStock)
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Sharper, representatives with the U.S. Attorney’s office said, submitted three fraudulent applications for federal COVID-19 relief funds, including two fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program, or PPP, loan applications – one under the booster club and the other under his accounting firm, A. Sharper CPA, PLLC – and an Economic Injury Disaster Loan, or EIDL, application to the Small Business Administration on behalf of his firm.
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"All three applications contained false information, including fake revenues and fake payroll and employment data," the statement read. "As a result of the fraudulent applications, Anthony Sharper obtained more than $236,000 in COVID-19 relief funds intended for existing businesses harmed by the coronavirus pandemic.
Prior to the sentencing, Anthony Sharper pleaded guilty to tax fraud, making a false statement to a financial institution, wire fraud, and engaging in monetary transactions in criminally derived property.
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His wife pleaded guilty to wire fraud and both were released on bond and ordered to report to the federal Bureau of Prisons to begin serving their sentences.
Assistant United States Attorney Caryn Finley of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the FBI, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and IRS.