Detroit CPA Sentenced to Prison and Ordered to Pay $14.5 Million in Restitution for PPP Loan Fraud Scheme Involving Hundreds of Small Businesses

PITTSBURGH, Pa. - A resident of Detroit, Michigan, has been sentenced in federal court to 24 months in prison, to be followed by four years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution of $14.5 million to the U.S. Small Business Administration on his conviction of fraud conspiracy, Acting United States Attorney Troy Rivetti announced today.

United States District Judge W. Scott Hardy imposed the sentence on Matthew Lloyd Parker, 37.

According to information presented to the Court, between March 2020 and August 2021, Parker conspired with others to defraud lenders of more than $14.5 million through false Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan applications for COVID-19 pandemic relief in the largest known PPP fraud in the Western District of Pennsylvania. Parker, a licensed CPA, recruited hundreds of small businesses in Pittsburgh and Detroit and falsified PPP loan applications in their names. The Small Business Administration approved more than 200 of those applications, resulting in loans totaling approximately $14.5 million to the various businesses. The United States argued that Parker’s sophistication as a CPA aided him in falsifying the hundreds of PPP loan documents, which then generated substantial PPP loans to others along with approximately $1.5 million dollars in loan processing fees to Parker.

Assistant United States Attorney Gregory C. Melucci prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.

Acting United States Attorney Rivetti commended the Federal Bureau of Investigation and United States Postal Inspection Service for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Parker.