The irony of a town name can arise when the name’s meaning, history, or association clashes with the town’s actual nature or residents’ past-times. For example, the olive branch – a powerful symbol of peace and reconciliation, often associated with divine beings. But that doesn’t mean all the residents from Olive Branch, Mississippi are filled with goodwill to the U.S. taxpayer.
Zipora Hudson, her son, Montreal Hudson, and Deandre Jones, are all from Olive Branch, MS, used a tax preparation business, named Zippy Bee, to create and file hundreds of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan applications on behalf of borrowers that were not eligible to receive the loans. Under Hudson’s direction, these fraudsters created fraudulent Schedule C tax documents so that their clients could claim gross income amounts that far exceeded the real income for their business. In many cases, their clients claimed gross income amounts for businesses that never existed.
For their efforts, Hudson required the borrowers to pay a kickback out of the proceeds of each loan. The documents were fraudulently created to receive PPP loans in amounts ranging from $19,000 to $20,833 per loan – on the small side for a PPP loan, but large enough in fraudulent gains for Hudson. By exploiting a government program designed to aid businesses during a national crisis, Zipora Hudson stole millions of dollars from American taxpayers.
On April 24, 2025, Hudson was sentenced to five years in prison. She was also ordered to pay $3,526,517 in restitution. No olive branch was extended to Hudson.
Great job by the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force in this case.
Today’s Fraud of The Day is based on article “Olive Branch woman sentenced for PPP fraud” published by DeSoto Times-Tribune on April 24, 2025.
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An Olive Branch woman was sentenced to five years in prison and must repay $3.5 million in restitution after being found guilty of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. U.S. District Court Judge Michael P. Mills sentenced Zipora Hudson on Thursday for her role in a scheme to defraud the Covid-19 pandemic Paycheck Protection Program. She also was given five years of supervised release following her jail term.
“By exploiting a government program designed to aid businesses during a national crisis, Zipora Hudson stole millions of dollars from American taxpayers,” said U.S. Attorney Clay Joyner.
