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An Oklahoma woman who was part of a scheme to scam more than $32
million from a Covid relief fund designed to keep businesses
afloat pleaded guilty Wednesday, federal prosecutors said.

Amanda J. Gloria, 45, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit
bank fraud and money laundering, the Justice Department said in
a statement.

She was charged in June with helping a New York man get a loan
for close to $1 million with the Paycheck Protection Program,
using faked payroll and other documents.

She also submitted and got around $421,000 from the pandemic
relief program using a trucking business that she owned but that
hadn�t been active since 2017, according to the Justice
Department and court documents associated with the $1 million
case.

The Justice Department said Gloria admitted Wednesday that she
conspired to submit at least 153 fraudulent PPP applications on
behalf of 111 entities from May 2020 to June 2021.

The entities unlawfully got around $32.5 million in PPP funds,
and she got $1.7 million, the Justice Department said in a
statement. Gloria admitted that she faked and helped falsify the
information in the claims and then submitted them herself or
assisted, it said.

Gloria�s attorney didn�t immediately respond to a request for
comment Wednesday night.

Documents relating to the guilty plea didn�t appear to be online
Wednesday night.

In the $1 million case, Gloria conspired with Adam Arena of
Little Valley, New York, to file for a $954,00 PPP loan that was
purported to go to Arena�s business.

The loan was granted, even though Arena's auto group business
didn�t have any employees and hadn�t been active since 2018.
Arena then paid Gloria around $24,000, court documents in his
case say.

Arena pleaded guilty in November to one count of conspiracy to
commit bank fraud and to another count that deals with
transactions of money obtained illegally, according to the
Justice Department.

The Paycheck Protection Program offered forgivable loans as part
of Congress� massive Covid-19 relief program, first passed in
2020. It was intended to help businesses stay afloat during the
pandemic.

It was part of the CARES Act, which Congress passed in March
2020, when the pandemic shuttered businesses, schools and large
parts of the rest of everyday life in the U.S.

Gloria, who is scheduled to be sentenced July 20, faces up to 40
years in prison, the Justice Department said.

Arena hasn�t yet been sentenced. Prosecutors have asked for a
sentence of at least 63 months, or five years and three months,
according to court documents in his case.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/oklahoma-woman-pleads- guilty-32-million-covid-relief-fraud-rcna23345
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