Source: U.S. Attorney’s Office, NDO
TULSA, Okla. — A former Oklahoma man with business ties in Florida was sentenced Monday after pleading guilty to four counts of bank fraud, U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson announced.
U.S. District Judge Sara E. Hill sentenced Shawn Ray Murnan, 57, of Windemere, Fla., to 33 months in prison, followed by 5 years of supervised release. Murnan was also ordered to pay $1.6 million in restitution to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).
CARES Act funding was established in 2020 to provide emergency financial assistance to help businesses that were disrupted. From April 2020 through October 2021, Murnan admitted to falsifying several CARES Act applications to the SBA. Murnan was the owner of numerous business ventures in Oklahoma, Florida and other states.
He submitted 14 applications on behalf of his businesses, including Blujett, which was based in Broken Arrow. He submitted applications claiming to have several employees and falsified his payroll expenses.
Murnan requested more than $2 million and successfully received $1,6 million from seven Paycheck Protection Program loans and two Economic Injury Disaster Loans. After receiving the funds, Murnan applied for the loans to be forgiven.
Previously released on bond, Murnan was taken into custody following the sentencing. The Office of Inspector General for the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Office of Inspector General for the Small Business Administration, and the U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney David Whipple prosecuted the case.
Leave a Reply