Omaha woman who fraudulently helped obtain nearly $1 million in COVID-19 recovery funds sentenced to prison

Paul Hammel

Nebraska Examiner

LINCOLN — An Omaha woman who helped herself, and 10 others, to fraudulently obtain nearly $1 million in federal COVID-19 recovery funds was sentenced Friday to 42 months in prison.

Tamika R. Cross, 44, of Omaha, was also ordered to pay $552,287 in restitution for conspiracy to commit wire fraud in relation to false applications for loans and grants authorized via the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

Cross, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office, lied about payroll, revenue and gross income for her sole proprietor business when, in fact, the business had no employees, no payroll and no revenue.

She also provided guidance for 10 others to create the appearance of viable businesses by providing phony documents and inflating their revenue and employment.

Collected funds ‘based on lies’

All told, Cross helped submit false applications for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) grants and Economic Injury Disaster Loans totaling $3.4 million. Her co-defendants obtained approximately $903,238 in loans and advances.

“(Cross) collected PPP loan proceeds based on lies and helped others do likewise,” said Thomas Murdock, a criminal investigator with the Internal Revenue Service.

Other co-defendants that have already been sentenced are:

1. Davida J. Anderson, 53, of Omaha, four years of probation, with the condition of five months’ home detention, a fine of $5,000 and restitution of $3,922.
2. Bion A. Flint, 10 months’ imprisonment, three years supervised release and $45,833 in restitution.
3. Jeremy D. Sanders, four years of probation and $21,305 in restitution.
4. Lakeda R. Sanders, four years of probation and $27,793.79 in restitution.
5. Ronnie E. Cross, 21 months’ imprisonment, three years of supervised release and $78,427 restitution.

Hotline for suspected fraud

Charges against Tamika Cross and the others were brought via the “COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force” established by the U.S. Attorneys Office in 2021 to investigate pandemic-related fraud.

Anyone with tips about suspected fraud are asked to call a tips hotline at 866-720-5721 or fill out a complaint form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.