A Pittsburgh woman and a Detroit man have been accused of defrauding the U.S. Small Business Administration and at least two lenders of about $14 millions by obtaining fake loans for hundreds of companies from a program designed to help business recover from the covid-related financial losses, the U.S. Attorney in Pittsburgh said.

Virginia R. Humphries, 35, of Pittsburgh and Matthew L. Parker Jr. 36, of Detroit, allegedly perpetuated the largest federal Paycheck Protection Program fraud in Western Pennsylvania, prosecutors said. The pair were charged with one count of fraud conspiracy and nine counts of bank fraud in the 10-count indictment handed down June 20 by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh, prosecutors said. They were accused of conspiring to commit fraud from March 2020 to August 2021, and committing bank fraud from March 12, 2021, to May 27, 2021, according to court documents.

Humphries and Parker were arrested on June 23, according to documents filed with the U.S. District Court.

They are accused of defrauding Cross River Bank of Teaneck, N.J. and Customers Bank of West Reading, by submitting false applications to the SBA for the paycheck protection funding, according to court documents. Parker, a licensed certified public accountant and Humphries, a credit repair specialist in Pittsburgh, are accused of recruiting hundreds of small businesses in Pittsburgh and Detroit to falsify the loan applications to the SBA, which approved 226 financial aid packages.

The court documents on file do not list any Western Pennsylvania businesses that received money through the scheme or any bank in the region that may have been victimized in the fraud.

Humphries and Parker face a total sentence of 50 years in prison and a $1.25 million fine. The indictment memorandum states they could be required to make restitution.

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