Show-Me State Times

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk on Wednesday sentenced a St. Louis woman to 24 months in prison for conspiring to defraud a COVID-19 pandemic relief program.

Jeannine Buford, 46, changed the name of an existing company to Couture Trading Inc. with the Montana Secretary of State’s Office in April 2020. She listed herself as the company president and Porshia L. Thomas as the director, vice president, secretary, and treasurer. On July 15, 2020, Thomas, with Buford’s help, completed and submitted a fraudulent PPP loan application for Couture Trading.

Buford and Thomas falsely claimed the company was an operating business located in California, had 15 employees, and an average monthly payroll of $120,000. They claimed the loan would be used for salaries and business expenses and submitted fake company bank records.

The bank issued a $291,000 PPP loan on Sept. 8, 2020. Thomas then wired $10,000 to Buford and wrote her a $65,000 check. Buford spent the money on personal expenses including food, clothes, a $14,000 deposit on a 2017 BMW X6, a $5,000 couch and other furniture items, and $1,855 to rent a luxury apartment in downtown St. Louis.

The bank recovered $206,000 of the loan money after realizing something was amiss.

“For too many Americans, the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in an unprecedented time of financial hardship, turmoil, and suffering. But for the defendant it constituted a lucrative opportunity to line her pockets with relief payments earmarked for struggling Americans,” a sentencing memo filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Derek J. Wiseman states. Buford’s crime was “motivated purely by greed,” according to the memo.

Buford has been engaging in persistent fraud since 1999 with six felony fraud convictions for crimes including forging checks and selling counterfeit handbags.

Buford pleaded guilty in February to wire fraud conspiracy. Thomas pleaded guilty to a bank fraud charge and has been sentenced to five years of probation. Both were ordered to repay the money.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigations with Assistant U.S. Attorney Derek J. Wiseman prosecuting.