David C. Weiss, U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware, said that a man from Bear, DE pleaded guilty to bank theft related to getting a Payroll Protection Plan (PPP) loan.
Court records show that 43-year-old Michael Coleman, who used to be a Sergeant with the Wilmington Police Department, pleaded guilty to getting a $150,000 PPP loan from the Small Business Administration in 2021 for a personal business he said he ran. Part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act”) was that the Small Business Administration gave loans to small companies.
U.S. Attorney Weiss said, “Mr. Coleman was a public servant who stole federal funds from a public program meant to help struggling businesses during a global pandemic, even though he did not qualify for those funds.” Together with our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners, my office will continue to find and punish people who got CARES Act money illegally.
Acting Special Agent in Charge R. Joseph Rothrock of the FBI’s Baltimore Field Office said, “These aid programs may have ended, but our promise to find those who lied to them has not.” “The FBI and our partners are still working hard to get stolen money back to the people who paid for it, and people who are involved in this kind of crime are being held accountable for their actions.”
Coleman could go to jail for up to 30 years. To decide on a sentence, a judge in a federal district court will look at the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other legal issues.
The Delaware Department of Justice and the FBI Baltimore Field Office’s Wilmington Resident Agency worked together to look into this case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander Ibrahim is in charge of the prosecution.
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