Kanawha County woman faces jail for COVID-19 relief fraud – WCHS Network | News • Sports • Business

KANAWHA COUNTY, W.Va. – A St Albans woman faces up to ten years in prison after pleading guilty to receiving stolen money.

Jessica Nutter, 39, of St. Albans admitted Wednesday to participating in a scheme to defraud the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) of COVID-19 relief funds from the Small Business Administration (SBA) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES).

Nutter admitted that she attempted to defraud the PPP of $20,830 in COVID-19 relief loans from March 27, 2021, to approximately April 20, 2021. Nutter obtained two PPP loans from a Texas lender and the SBA during that time period, falsely claiming to have a business and also providing false information about her husband.

For one of the two PPP loans, Nutter claimed she had a business called Nut House Wood that generated $50,000 in gross income in 2019. For the second loan, Nutter said her husband worked as an independent contractor for an online grocery delivery service and generated $50,000 in gross income in 2019. Nutter admitted that Nut House Wood was never a registered business in West Virginia and her husband was not an independent contractor at the time.

Nutter received the first loan of $10,415 from a Texas bank on April 9, 2021, and then transferred over $1,500 of that money to a company in North Carolina, ostensibly for the cost of a family vacation.

Nutter received the second loan of $10,415 from a Texas bank on April 20, 2021 and had it transferred to her husband's personal account. Nutter said those funds were used for family expenses.

Nutter now faces a maximum prison sentence of ten years and up to three years probation, as well as a $250,000 fine. She must also pay $25,830 in restitution.

Nutter will be sentenced on November 21, 2021.