Former Phoenix news anchor sentenced to 10 years for $63m fraud in Covid relief scheme

A former Phoenix news anchor has been sentenced to 10 years after being found guilty of participating in a fraudulent $63m Covid-19 relief scheme alongside her husband. Stephanie Hockridge’s sentence on Friday came after a jury convicted her in June. Meanwhile, her husband, Nathan Reis, pleaded guilty in August. The US justice department said Hockridge and Reis co-founded a firm named Blueacorn in April 2020 purportedly to assist small businesses and individuals in obtaining Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans guaranteed by the US Small Business Administration during the pandemic. Reis and Hockridge – who had previously worked at the ABC15 television station from 2011 to 2018 – and other co-conspirators “fabricated documents, including payroll records, tax documentation and bank statements” to fraudulently obtain more than $63m in PPP loans. Related: An Arizona town is dreading plans to turn its prison into an ICE facility: ‘It’s morally objectionable’ They also “charged borrowers kickbacks based on a percentage of the funds received”, the justice department added. According to the justice department, the group ran a so-called “VIPPP” service that guided clients through PPP loan applications. However, they used it to coach borrowers on submitting false information. Hockridge also recruited others to act as referral agents and help push fraudulent applications aiming to increase kickbacks from clients and boost their share of SBA lender fees. A jury found Hockridge guilty of conspiracy to commit wire fraud about two months before her husband pleaded guilty to the same charge. In 2022, a congressional report found that Blueacorn brought in more than $1bn in taxpayer money for processing loans, adding that the firm’s partner lenders issued nearly three times more PPP loans in 2021 than JP Morgan Chase and Bank of America altogether, AZ Family reports. The report also cited Slack messages from Hockridge who wrote to “delete them”. She also was found to have written “who [expletive] cares” in regards to deprioritizing non-VIPPP, smaller loans, adding: “We’re not the first bank to decline borrowers who deserve to be funded. They go elsewhere.” In another instance, Hockridge directed a contractor to approve a “VIPPP” loan without reviewing it entirely, saying: “No need to put your spot=checker [sic] on it – the file is good…just needs approval from someone other than me…since it’s in my channel.’”