WEST PALM BEACH — A Boynton Beach man accused of defrauding a federal COVID-19 relief business loan program will serve time in prison after he pleaded guilty to state charges.
Derrick Worrell, 48, pleaded guilty to one count each of money laundering and organizing a scheme to defraud $50,000 or more during a hearing on Thursday, Nov. 7, at the Palm Beach County Courthouse.
Circuit Judge Caroline Shepherd imposed a mitigated sentence of 10 years, meaning that Worrell’s sentence will be reduced if he satisfies certain requirements.
If Worrell returns to court on Dec. 4 to turn himself in, and if he avoids any new law violations before then, his sentence will be reduced to five years and nine months, according to the terms of his plea agreement.
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COVID-19 relief business loan was used for personal expenses, investigators said
Worrell was one of six people arrested in March on allegations of stealing a total more than $3 million from the Paycheck Protection Program, an economic stimulus enacted in 2020 under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security — or CARES — Act. Federal officials intended the stimulus bill to help small businesses suffering from the economic effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office in 2023 created a task force to investigate fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program claims, with charges to be pursued at the state level.
Investigators said Worrell and the five others were either untruthful about having legitimate businesses or claimed they needed assistance from the program to pay nonexistent employees.
Worrell reportedly received a loan of $490,996 for a tax-services company that purportedly had 26 employees and a monthly payroll of $184,399. The company’s business entity, which incorporated in 2014, was inactive until being reinstated 10 days before officials disbursed the PPP loan to an account that Worrell controlled, investigators said.
Bank records showed that some of the loan money was used for payroll expenses while the remainder was used primarily for personal expenses such as rental cars, groceries and online shopping. Worrell paid $52,240.33 in wages, taxes and payroll fees while using the remainder of the loan for personal expenses, investigators said.
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Julius Whigham II is a criminal justice and public safety reporter for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at jwhigham@pbpost.com and follow him on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, at @JuliusWhigham. Help support our work: Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: $490K Paycheck Protection Program fraud sends Boynton man to prison
