Chandler Wilson Carroll (Little Rock Soiree)
A Little Rock businesswoman who used fraudulent funds to purchase many items, including a home on the White River in Baxter County, was sentenced in federal court Thursday. Chandler Wilson Carroll will spend 24 months in federal prison after admitting to fraudulently obtaining nearly $2.1 million in federal loans designed to assist businesses during the COVID pandemic. Jonathan D. Ross, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, and Alica D. Corder, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Little Rock Field Office, announced the sentence, which was handed down Thursday by United States District Judge D.P. Marshall, Jr.
On July 8, the 33-year-old Carroll of Little Rock, pleaded guilty to superseding information charging her with one count of wire fraud. The single count was in reference to a fraudulently obtained $1.6 million Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan. In her plea agreement, Carroll admitted to receiving federal payments from a total of four fraudulent loans totaling just over $2 million. Of that total, $159,572 has been recovered and Carroll has been ordered to pay the remaining restitution in the amount of over $1.9 million. Judge Marshall also sentenced Carroll to two years’ supervised release.
Enacted in March 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act federal law provided economic relief to individuals and businesses impacted by the Coronavirus pandemic. Economic relief under this law included the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which are forgivable business loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA). The SBA also administered a program, the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL), that provided low-interest financing to small businesses impacted by declared disasters.
An investigation revealed that Carroll was the owner of Wilson Carroll Research Services, LLC (WCRS), a Texas-based limited liability company, and WilCarr Ventures, LLC (WilCarr Ventures), an Arkansas-based limited liability company. On April 6, 2020, Carroll applied for an EIDL loan for WCRS, listed herself as the CEO and represented that she owned 100% of the company. Based on the fraudulent representation, Carroll received $149,900 for this loan.
From April 2020 through March 2021, Carroll submitted applications to various financial institutions under the PPP loan program, with deposits to her totaling more than $1.9 million. On May 28, 2020, Carroll, the sole owner of WilCarr Ventures, applied for a PPP loan and it was approved, with $1.6 million deposited into an account she represented to belong to WilCarr Ventures. Two other PPP loans totaling $337,723 on behalf of WCRS were deposited into Carroll’s accounts.
Carroll made various fraudulent purchases using the proceeds of the loans made to WCRS and WilCarr Ventures. The fraudulent purchases include two vehicles (2020 Ford F-150 Raptor and a 2020 Ford Explorer), two watches, (Patek Philippe Manual Watch and a Rolex Cellini Moonphase), jewelry (diamond earrings and a diamond), 1.5 acres of land, and a home on the White River in Baxter County.
Ross says “What a tangled web she wove, a web of lies and deceit to steal emergency relief funds from the American treasury in order to line her pockets with more than $2,000,000-not for her employees’ sake but for trucks, jewels, and a second home with a river view. But now that the FBI has untangled her web and brought her to justice, she can go to her new second home-a federal prison.
“If you know of anyone else who defrauded the Pandemic Relief Fraud, please report it online at pandemicoversight.com. Because Congress lengthened the statute of limitations for this type of crime to 10 years through the year 2031, our office still has plenty of time to hold more of these thieves accountable.
Corder says “When fraud is perpetrated against federal programs intended for the public good, we all lose. It undermines public confidence, deprives those in need of resources, and misuses taxpayers’ money. This sentence affirms our commitment to accountability and the protection of federal funds.
This investigation was conducted by the FBI, with assistance from the U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, Small Business Administration, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Office of Inspector General.
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