Show-Me State Times

A St. Louis County man has been indicted for allegedly obtaining $620,000 in COVID-19 pandemic loans fraudulently and committing a separate disability fraud.

Preston Randall, 59, was charged in U.S. District Court in St. Louis on May 15 with 13 felony counts: five counts each of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, two counts of theft of government property, and one count of concealing information from the Social Security Administration about a payment.

Randall was arrested on Wednesday, appeared in court, and pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The indictment alleges that Randall applied for funds from the Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program (EIDL), a Small Business Administration initiative designed to support struggling business owners during the pandemic. Between June 26, 2020, and August 5, 2020, Randall purportedly filed five fraudulent loan applications using different company names and the identities of two other individuals. The applications reportedly contained false information regarding gross revenue and employee numbers. These fraudulent applications resulted in loans and advances totaling $620,000 deposited into accounts controlled by Randall.

Additionally, the indictment accuses Randall of obtaining $17,906 in Social Security Administration disability payments from March 2021 through October 2023 by concealing his receipt of EIDL funds and other resources.

Charges outlined in an indictment are accusations and do not constitute proof of guilt. Every defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

The case was investigated by the Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General. Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane Klocke is prosecuting the case.

Individuals with information about pandemic-related fraud are encouraged to contact the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or report via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.