Pewaukee man sentenced to prison for fraudulently obtaining over $1 million in PPP loans

PEWAUKEE, Wis. (CBS 58) -- A Pewaukee man was sentenced to 57 months in prison Wednesday, June 2, for fraudulently obtaining over $1 million in Paycheck Protection Program loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration under the CARES Act.

Forty-six-year-old Thomas Smith will also be required to spend two years on supervised release following his prison sentence, according to the DOJ, and was ordered to pay $960,000 in restitution. 

Smith pleaded guilty to the offense in February. 

According to court documents, Smith fraudulently sought over $1.2 million in PPP loans on behalf of eight different companies. 

According to his plea agreement, Smith caused fraudulent loan applications to be submitted that made numerous false and misleading statements about the companies' respective payroll expenses. 

Smith then directed his co-conspirators to send him portions of the PPP funds within days of receiving them and used the proceeds for personal expenses, he admitted.