Indian Trail Man On Supervised Release For Federal Conviction Pleads Guilty To Wire Fraud For COVID-19 Scheme

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Roger Trent Melchor, 56, of Indian Trail, N.C., pleaded guilty yesterday to wire fraud for fraudulently obtaining $32,000 in COVID-19 pandemic relief loans, announced Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.

According to plea documents and the court hearing, between July 2020 to May 2021, Melchor used false information to apply for loans and receive funds from the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) Program and the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). To obtain the loans, Melchor submitted applications on behalf of himself and his company, “RSTR Sanitizing,” that contained false information about Melchor and his business’s gross income and gross revenue. Melchor also submitted a fabricated tax return in support of the PPP loan application and falsely stated in the loan application that he had not “commenced any form of parole or probation” within the last five years. Based on the fraudulent applications, Melchor received approximately $32,000 in COVID-19 relief funds.

Court records show that Melchor was prosecuted in the Middle District of North Carolina for conspiracy to commit bank fraud and aggravated identity theft. As a result of that conviction, Melchor served a term of imprisonment and was on federal supervised release when he engaged in the PPP and EIDL fraud scheme.

Melchor is currently released on bond. The wire fraud charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine Melchor’s sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing date for Melchor has not been set.

The Small Business Administration’s Office of the Inspector General investigated the case.

Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Frick of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte is prosecuting the case.

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 at 866‑720‑5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.