Monmouth county business owners indicted for $3.75m COVID-19 relief fund fraud

Charlie Dwyer
A gavel and a block is pictured at the George

FARMINGDALE, NJ – Two former residents of Monmouth County, New Jersey, Jean Rabbitt and Kevin Aguilar, have been indicted on charges of obtaining approximately $3.75 million in federal pandemic-related loans fraudulently. U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced the indictment today.

Rabbitt, 52, and Aguilar, 52, both from Sherman, Texas, and previously of Farmingdale, New Jersey, are charged with one count of conspiracy to engage bank fraud, seven counts of bank fraud, one count of conspiracy to engage in wire fraud, three counts of wire fraud, conspiracy to engage in monetary transactions in property derived from specified unlawful activity and one count of engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from specified unlawful activity, and one count of aggravated identity theft. Rabbitt is also charged with one count of making a false statement in a loan application.

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act was enacted on March 29, 2020, to provide emergency financial assistance to millions of Americans suffering the economic effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. One source of relief provided by the CARES Act was the authorization of forgivable loans to small businesses for job retention and certain other expenses, through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).

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Rabbitt and Aguilar submitted seven fraudulent PPP loan applications on behalf of four businesses that Rabbitt owned or controlled. The lenders approved PPP loans totaling $3.33 million, and transmitted those funds to Rabbitt’s businesses. Rabbitt and Aguilar also submitted fraudulent applications to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) under the federal Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program. Based on false statements in those applications, the SBA approved EIDLs to three of Rabbitt’s businesses, totaling approximately $447,000.


After receiving the PPP and EIDL funds, Rabbitt and Aguilar transferred those funds to other businesses that Aguilar created to give the false appearance that the PPP and EIDL funds were being used for legitimate purposes. They then used the PPP and EIDL funds for personal expenses.


Additionally, Rabbitt and Aguilar engaged in identity theft by submitting an EIDL application using the name and identifying information of an individual who did not authorize the use of that information.

Rabbitt is also charged with making a false statement on a loan application, including with respect to her gross monthly income, in order to obtain financing to purchase a new truck from a Monmouth County car dealership.

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