Stimulus Check Update: Woman Spends $1.6M Economic Relief Loans On Plastic Surgery

KEY POINTS

The woman filed false applications to get the economic stimulus loans
The woman may face up to 30 years imprisonment for each count of bank fraud
She may also get up to 5 years imprisonment for each of the six counts of making false statements

A woman in Baltimore is now being indicted by a federal grand jury after she stole and used stimulus loans to get plastic surgery.

Nichelle Henson, 35, is now being charged with making false statements and bank fraud to receive over $1.6 million in economic relief loans for personal use. United States Attorney Erek L. Barron said the woman spent the money on home renovations, rent and utilities for personal residences and plastic surgery.

“It is reprehensible that fraudsters try to take advantage of this global pandemic to line their own pockets,” Barron said in a news release. “As charged in the indictment unsealed today, Nichelle Henson allegedly fraudulently obtained more than $1.6 million in federal funds at the expense of honest business owners who were actually experiencing financial distress as a result of COVID-19.”

The unsealed indictment revealed that Henson incorporated several businesses in Maryland by opening their bank accounts and getting tax ID numbers for them. However, some of the companies, including Crowns Construction, LLC; Nichelle Henson Campaign, LLC; Your Friendly Tax Preparation Services, LLC; and Peace of Mind Services, Inc. and Women Entrepreneurs Can Succeed LLC, had no employees. Henson herself received at least $998,590 from six of the applications she filed.

If Henson is convicted, she may receive up to 30 years in federal prison for each of the 12 counts of bank fraud. She may also be given up to five years imprisonment for each of the six counts of making false statements in the applications. Henson is scheduled to virtually appear in court Thursday.

The unsealing of the indictment comes as many Americans call Congress to send more relief checks amid the spread of the highly transmissible Delta and Omicron variants. A petition posted last year by Denver restaurant owner Stephanie Bonin urging lawmakers to send out $2,000 monthly checks has reached 2,982,378 signatures, less than 18,000 signatures short of its three million goal.

Neither the Biden administration nor lawmakers in Congress have yet indicated any plans of approving another round of COVID-19 relief payments to Americans.