Tampa Republic

Ocala, Florida – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announced the arrest of Lisa Yvette Starkes (52, Ocala) on an indictment charging her with two counts of wire fraud. If convicted, Starkes faces up to 20 years in federal prison on each count and a forfeiture order for $41,452—an amount representing the unlawful proceeds of the offense. The indictment was returned on August 6, 2024.

According to court documents, between August 4, 2020, and April 12, 2021, Starkes devised a scheme to defraud the Small Business Administration (SBA) by submitting false Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan applications. PPP loans were one of the sources of economic relief provided for by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Starkes allegedly provided false representations in her PPP applications to secure the loans. The loan proceeds—$41,452—were later electronically transferred into her bank account.

An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

This case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Hannah Nowalk.

On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing information gained from prior enforcement efforts. For more information on the department's response to the pandemic, please visit Justice.gov/Coronavirus and Justice.gov/Coronavirus/CombatingFraud.

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice's National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline via the NCDF Web Complaint Form.

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