ALBANY, NEW YORK – Ouida Cordell, 47, of Watervliet, New York, pleaded guilty today to a fraudulent application for an EIDL (Economic Injury Disaster Loan) application to the US Small Business Administration (SBA) in a wire fraud count guilty. .
US Attorney Carla B. Freedman; Janeen DiGuiseppi, Special Agent in Charge for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Albany Field Office; and Darren B. Cox, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Buffalo Field Office, made the announcement.
As part of her guilty plea, Cordell admitted that on July 13, 2020, she filed an online application for an EIDL with the SBA on behalf of her company, Bashment Entertainment LLC, which incorrectly inflated Bashment’s annual earnings. As a result of the scam, Cordell and her company, Bashment, received a $149,500 EIDL loan to which she and the company were not entitled.
Sentencing is scheduled for June 28, 2023 before US District Judge Glenn T. Suddaby. Cordell faces up to 20 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000 and up to 3 years of supervised imprisonment. A defendant’s sentence will be determined by a judge based on the particular law that the defendant is accused of violating, US sentencing guidelines, and other factors.
The FBI investigated this case with assistance from the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, Office of Internal Affairs and the US Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. Assistant US Attorney Rick Belliss is prosecuting this case.
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