El Paso woman sentenced to 30 years in prison for PPP fraud

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) - An El Paso woman faces up to 30 years in prison after pleading guilty to federal charges related to Covid-era loan fraud.

According to the Department of Justice, 47-year-old Araceli Benitez admitted she lied in order to receive more money from the paycheck protection program.

At the time, Benitez owned Garaas Insurance Tax Services and Ashley Home Care Services in El Paso. Court documents details how Benitez received income tax information for an application for PPP by one of the business clients and used the information to prepare and file a false claim using different amounts than those given by the client. She also did not obtain the proper signature from the client before submitted the form.

An investigation discovered the signature had been forged and the application was not reviewed by the client.

In another instance, Benitz filed a false form stating she paid higher wages to some of her employees than their actual payroll. She received over $52,000 on a tax refund due to the inaccurate amounts.

“The Paycheck Protection Program was designed to help American small businesses survive the economic crisis that was the COVID era,” said U.S. Attorney Simmons. “Araceli Benitez saw that as an opportunity to enrich herself through an illegal fraud scheme. Fraud against federal programs is a selfish crime against every taxpaying American. Like many other convicted fraudsters who have faced the consequences, Benitez must be held accountable.”

Benitz pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of filing false forms. A federal district court judge will now issue her sentence in accordance with the U.S. sentencing guidelines.