New Orleans Woman Sentenced for $1.3 Million Covid Fraud and Tax Evasion

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA - AMANDA CLAYBORNE-WILLIAMS ("CLAYBORNE-WILLIAMS"), age 45, was sentenced on October 20, 2026 by U.S. District Judge Jay C. Zainey, after previously pleading guilty to wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343, and tax evasion, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 7201, announced U.S. Attorney David I. Courcelle.

According to court documents, between April 2020 and January 2021, CLAYBORNE-WILLIAMS submitted twelve false and misleading applications for loans through the Paycheck Protection Program ("PPP") and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan ("EIDL") program, seeking approximately $1.3 million on behalf of four entities. Each application contained materially false information regarding the number of employees, average monthly payroll, gross receipts, and/or gross revenue for the relevant entity. As a result of these applications, CLAYBORNE-WILLIAMS received approximately $447,305.98 through fraud. CLAYBORNE-WILLIAMS then used the PPP and EIDL funds for personal and unauthorized expenses, including for a mortgage payment on her personal residence. CLAYBORNE-WILLIAMS did not repay the EIDLs as required, and the loans went into default. Moreover, the defendant submitted a forgiveness application to the Small Business Administration ("SBA") for each PPP loan, in which she falsely certified that she had spent the loan proceeds on permissible items and payroll expenses. As a result, the SBA forgave eight PPP loans that CLAYBORNE-WILLIAMS had obtained.

In addition, CLAYBORNE-WILLIAMS attempted to evade paying income tax for tax years 2011-2014 and 2016-2020. In 2022, IRS Collections opened an investigation because CLAYBORNE-WILLIAMS owed significant overdue taxes. Even though CLAYBORNE-WILLIAMS had sufficient income to make payments on her back taxes in 2022, she sought and obtained "Currently Not Collectible/Unable to Pay" account status. In November of 2022, CLAYBORNE-WILLIAMS submitted a false form to the Internal Revenue Service ("IRS"), on which she failed to report bank accounts, credit cards, loans, and business information. Due to her evasive conduct, CLAYBORNE-WILLIAMS caused a loss of $360,466.24 to the IRS.

Judge Zainey sentenced CLAYBORNE-WILLIAMS to five (5) years of probation, to include one (1) year of home detention and one-hundred and fifty (150) hours of community service. A mandatory $200 special assessment fee was also imposed. Judge Zainey also ordered CLAYBORNE-WILLIAMS to pay restitution in the amount of $447,305.98 to the SBA and $360,466.24 to the IRS.

For more information on the Department of Justice's response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus. Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice's National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

U.S. Attorney Courcelle praised the work of the Internal Revenue Service on this investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Maria M. Carboni of the Public Integrity Unit is in charge of the prosecution.

On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division. The core mission of the Fraud Division is to zealously investigate and prosecute those who steal or fraudulently misuse taxpayer dollars. Department of Justice efforts to combat fraud support President Trump's Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs.

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