Date: July 10, 2025
Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.go
NEW ORLEANS — Acting U.S. Attorney Michael M. Simpson announced that Dent Hunter (“Hunter”), of New Orleans, was sentenced on July 8, 2025 to five years of probation by U.S. District Judge Darrel James Papillion after Hunter pleaded guilty to both making false statements, and money laundering, related to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act).
On March 27, 2020, the President of the United States signed into law the CARES Act, which provided emergency assistance, administered by the United States Small Business Administration (SBA), to small business owners affected by the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The two primary sources of funding for small businesses were the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) program.
According to the charging documents, or about April 6, 2020, Hunter, on behalf of a business, made false statements to an approved lender to obtain a $122,100 PPP loan. On or about July 22, 2020, Hunter stole $149,900 from the SBA by using an application in the name of NexLevel ONE Realty. Finally, Hunter committed two counts of money laundering by using these ill-gotten funds to buy two motor vehicles for family members.
In addition to probation, Hunter was ordered to pay approximately over $1 million in restitution to the SBA, and to conduct 400 hours of community service. He was also ordered to pay a mandatory special assessment fee of $200.
This case was investigated by an agent assigned to the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC) Fraud Task Force. The PRAC was established to serve the American public by promoting transparency and facilitating coordinated oversight of the federal government’s COVID-19 pandemic response. The PRAC’s 21 member Inspectors General identify major risks that cross program and agency boundaries to detect fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement in the more than $5 trillion in COVID-19 spending. The PRAC Fraud Task Force brings together agents from 15 Inspectors General to investigate fraud involving a variety of programs, including the Paycheck Protection Program. Task force agents who are detailed to the PRAC receive expanded authority to investigate pandemic fraud as well as tools and training to support their investigations.
Acting U.S. Attorney Simpson praised the work of the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation, and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs - Office of Inspector General (a member of the PRAC), in investigating this matter. Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward J. Rivera of the Financial Crimes Unit was in charge of the prosecution.
IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) is the law enforcement arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. IRS-CI special agents are the only federal law enforcement agents with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code, obtaining a 90% federal conviction rate. The agency has 19 field offices located across the U.S. and 14 attaché posts abroad.