Missouri Woman Sentenced for Fraudulently Applying for $168,000 Pandemic Loan

CAPE GIRARDEAU – A woman who fraudulently applied for a $167,997 pandemic loan for a Poplar Bluff, Missouri business that she did not run or own was sentenced Thursday to six months in prison.

U.S. District Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh Jr. also ordered Maxine Michelle Burns, 44, of Willow Springs in Howell County, Missouri, to repay the money. Burns will be on supervised release for five years after she gets out of prison.

Burns applied for a Paycheck Protection Program loan from the Small Business Administration on Jan. 20, 2021 using the name of the owner of a residential treatment facility in Poplar Bluff without authorization. She also used the owner’s signature stamp, her plea says. After the loan was granted, Burns used the money to buy vehicles for herself and pay for vacations. The loan was forgiven after Burns falsely claimed that she’d used the money for payroll and other permissible purposes. 

“This case highlights a partnership between the United States Secret Service and the Butler County Sheriff’s Department to aggressively target individuals who have taken advantage of federal pandemic programs,” said Special Agent in Charge Travis Gibson of the U.S. Secret Service - St. Louis Field Office.

Burns pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Cape Girardeau in July to bank fraud and making false statements to a financial institution.

This case was investigated by the U.S. Secret Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Willis prosecuted the case. 

Anyone with information about pandemic fraud should call the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or report via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.