The consummate book on ethical fraud is still to be written on the “COVID-Period.” As a business ethics speaker, business ethics consultant and book author, my guess is that all the good intentions could eventually be completely erased by unethical behavior.
It seems as though almost every day, in the post-pandemic period, we are reminded of widespread dishonesty and cheating, not necessarily by major corporations and government institutions, but by our fellow citizens. These are individuals, perhaps associates or neighbors, who go through life without an ethical code.
Daniela Rendon is currently all but 31-years old. Whether she acted totally on her own, or had help, is unknown. What is known is that some of the payroll funds she obtained came from checks sent to family and friends as part of the greater scam.
Given the course of COVID throughout the country, Rendon was possibly not much older than 27-years old when she hatched the idea to scam the government. She made the choice in the great government giveaway, without thinking through the consequences.
The Great PPP Giveaway
Rendon, who may have been involved with a real estate business found a way to lie about her business payroll and sales revenues, decided to file fake tax forms grossly over-inflating her income. She then applied for relief funds from the SBA and incredibly received more than $380,000 in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funds and the Economic Injury Disaster Relief Program (EIDL) funding.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office from the Southern District of Florida stated she “is alleged to have used the fraudulently obtained funds to lease a 2021 Bentley Bentayga, rent a luxury Biscayne Bay apartment, pay for cosmetic dermatology producers, and refinish her designer shoes.”
She did the expected thing with the money as would an immature fraudster who lived for the moment and for herself. The problem was that she didn’t realize the government would eventually get around to conducting investigations (the consequences). She is now charged with seven counts of wire fraud, two counts of money laundering, and one count of aggravated identity theft. She could face up to decades worth of jail time.
Taking advantage
Unfortunately, there will always be the ignorant fraudsters of this world. In this case, they will take programs whose purpose was to keep people employed and company’s afloat, and bleed those programs dry. The fact that the funds will need to be replenished with taxes i.e., your money, is of no consequence. Their thought processes are outside the system and they are often enabled by cadres of co-conspirators.
PPP could be viewed as great or disaster, and while I do know of ethical people who kept their organizations afloat during the depths of the pandemic, I also know of people who took the system for every penny they could.
That Daniela Rendon, in my opinion, was a complete fool, is no surprise. That the federal government shoveled out money with abandon and yet, without an understanding of human nature is sad. Good people are suffering because the government absented itself from a consideration of possible outcomes – and that is inexcusable.
It is not my place to opine on how much jail-time Rendon should receive. Whether 10 or 20 years is not the issue. However, unless there exists a future framework for how we handle financial catastrophe, I am fearful the same outcome is in store, followed by inflation and possibly recession.
Who, in the government was responsible for maintaining ethics and what could be done to prevent more fraud of this nature? I don’t think anyone has a handle on it and that is the worst outcome of all.
LEAVE YOUR COMMENTS!
