A former St. Louis Rams linebacker, Dana C. Howard, is in hot water along with two others for their involvement in a pandemic loan fraud scheme linked to an East St. Louis construction company. Howard, aged 52 and co-owner of Zoie, LLC, a construction company, was charged alongside co-owner Richard Scott Myers, 63, and bookkeeper Glenn Sunnquist, 53 by the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of Illinois.
The trio reportedly obtained a loan from the U.S. Small Business Administration through the Paycheck Protection Program for their construction company, Zoie, LLC, and freight company, Zade Trucking, during the COVID-19 pandemic. In April 2020, they received a PPP loan of over $1.4 million, claiming that over $1.3 million of it would be used for Zoie’s operational costs and employee payments amid the pandemic. However, it is alleged that Howard and Myers misused the loan for personal expenses and to benefit another business they owned.
The indictment states that in 2020, Howard and Myers declared bankruptcy, suggesting that there were insufficient funds from the PPP loan, despite having $450,000 still available to them through cashier’s checks. Howard and Myers then allegedly applied for another PPP loan worth over $1.4 million in January 2021, falsely denying their involvement in bankruptcy and seeking forgiveness for the initial loan. To support the loan forgiveness application, Sunnquist is accused of falsifying the business’s expense records and manipulating old invoices. Unfortunately, in September 2022, the SBA rejected the loan forgiveness request.
A federal grand jury issued a 13-count indictment against the three individuals, with Howard, Myers, and Sunnquist each facing one charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and two counts of wire fraud. Additionally, Howard faces charges for making a false statement, two counts of bankruptcy fraud, and three counts of willful failure to pay taxes. Myers, on the other hand, is charged with one count of monetary transaction in funds derived from unlawful activity and three counts of bankruptcy fraud.
This case highlights the serious consequences of misusing funds meant to support businesses during challenging times such as the COVID-19 pandemic. It serves as a reminder of the importance of using such financial assistance responsibly to ensure the survival and success of legitimate businesses in need.
