Georgia Man Admits Pandemic Loan Fraud

ST. LOUIS – A man from Norcross, Georgia with connections to St. Louis on Monday admitted fraudulently obtaining a pandemic loan.

Chad E. “JBo” Brown, 51, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one count of bank fraud and one count of using a false writing or document. As part of his plea, Brown admitted fraudulently applying for and receiving a $20,833 loan from the Paycheck Protection Program, which was intended to help struggling businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

On May 27, 2021, Brown applied for the PPP loan for Popular Music Group LLC. He listed gross income in 2020 of $178,653 and submitting a fraudulent 2020 IRS Schedule C showing the same amount of gross income for the company. On his tax returns for that year, however, Brown reported an adjusted gross income of $7,249, and the only Schedule C was for “towing services.” That Schedule C listed gross income of $8,250. Brown did not file a Schedule C for Popular Music Group in 2019 or 2020.

The $20,833 was deposited into Brown’s credit union on June 29, 2021. Brown did not use the money for expenses authorized by the Small Business Administration. He wired $10,025 to a marketing and promotion company, withdrew $2,703 in cash and transferred money to his sister, his girlfriend and others, his plea agreement says.

Brown is scheduled to be sentenced April 24. The bank fraud charge is punishable by a sentence of up to 30 years in prison, a $1 million fine, or both. The false document charge is punishable by up to five years in prison, a $250,000 fine or both.

Brown is currently being held in jail, in part because he is a self-reported member of the “Black Mafia Family” street gang. 

The broader investigation into the Black Mafia Family is being conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the FBI, IRS Criminal Investigations, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the St. Louis County Police Department and other members of the St. Louis Gateway Strike Force. 

Anyone with information about pandemic fraud should call the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or report via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.