Aug. 12 (UPI) -- An ex-financial executive is likely to spend years behind bars over wire fraud charges in an alleged pandemic-era financial scheme to defraud the federal government's small business loan program.
The U.S. Department of Justice said Monday that Nathan Reis, now of Rio Grande in Puerto Rico by way of Arizona, pleaded guilty in Texas to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud for his role as company chief at Scottsdale-based lender Blueacorn.
The plea was tied to attempts to fraudulently obtain relief money via the U.S. Small Business Administration's Paycheck Protection Program during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"This defendant had the opportunity to help small businesses overcome tremendous financial hardships during a time of national crisis but instead exploited the system to line his own pockets with taxpayer money," Nancy E. Larson, the acting U.S. attorney for the northern district in Texas, said in a statement.
Reis, 47, created the venture in 2020 with his wife, Stephanie Hockridge, a former KNXV television anchor in Phoenix, purportedly to help small businesses and owners to obtain the federal government's PPP loans.
