The Cares Act was specific about the expenses that the Small Business Administration’s COVID-19 loans would cover. Payroll costs, working capital and normal operating expenses necessary to keep a business running. Outdoor recreation was not one of the SBA’s approved expenses. But that is how Jason Carnel O’Daffer spent his COVID-19 pandemic recovery funds, like on a $40,000 RV and a road trip. Awesome, a fraudster on the run in a U.S. taxpayer purchased motorhome.
In 2020, O’Daffer successfully obtained over $117,000 in Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) funding for his supposed home appraisal business, Chelan Douglas Appraisal Services. However, unbeknownst to the Small Business Administration, O’Daffer was not a self-employed home appraiser, as he claimed to be on his EIDL application. He was actually unlicensed and his business, Chelan Douglas Appraisal Services, was inactive. However, he was an active fraudster.
It’s the journey, not the destination that counts. And what a journey for O’Daffer. In December 2022, O’Daffer was arrested in San Francisco and arraigned on two counts of wire fraud and one count of false, fictitious, or fraudulent claims. Following his initial appearance, he absconded from his pretrial release and remained at large until March 2023 when he was again arrested. O’Daffer’s journey has come to an end. His destination is prison. On May 7, 2024, he was sentenced to one year in federal prison. And he has to hand over the RV for restitution.
Great job by the Secret Service in catching O’Daffer.
Today’s Fraud of The Day is based on article “Former Wenatchee Man Sentenced For Misusing COVID Funds, Buying RV” published by KPQ News on May 8, 2024.
A man with local roots is going to prison for unlawfully obtaining funds appropriated under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Washington, Jason Carnell O’Daffer, formerly of Wenatchee, was sentenced to 12 months and one day in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised probation. The presiding judge in this case is Thomas O. Rice.
O’Daffer pleaded guilty in February to unlawfully obtaining $117,000 in Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) funds. The EIDL program was enacted as part of 2020’s multi-trillion-dollar stimulus package. The program provided “fixed rate, low interest, long-term capital” to small businesses, many of them underbanked and hugely vulnerable to the ravages of COVID-19.
