An El Paso woman faces up to 30 years in prison after pleading guilty to federal charges of Covid-era loan fraud.
According to the Department of Justice, 47-year-old Araceli Benitez admitted lying to receive additional funds under the paycheck protection program.
Benitez owned Garaas Insurance Tax Services and Ashley Home Care Services in El Paso. Court documents describe how Benitez obtained income tax information for a PPP application from one of the business clients and utilized it to draft and file a fake claim using amounts apart from those provided by the client. She also failed to collect the appropriate signature from the client before submitting the paperwork.
An examination revealed that the customer did not evaluate the application, and the signature was falsified.
In another case, Benitz filed a fake form claiming that she paid some of her employees larger compensation than their real payroll. She received nearly $52,000 in tax refunds as a result of the incorrect sums.
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