Stephanie Hockridge, a former Phoenix News anchor, converted into Fintech businessman, has been convicted of conspiracy to commit wire frauds in a federal case with hundreds of millions of kophid relief funds.
A jury in the Northern District of Texas told Hockridge guilty for a conspiracy count for committing a wire fraud. She was acquitted by four additional counts of wire fraud. The ruling is scheduled for October 10.
Hockridge’s conviction was announced on Friday.
According to federal prosecutors and investigative reports, Hockridge and her husband, Nathan Reis, won more than $ 300,000 in Pagnation Protection Loans (PPPs) by themselves, including a request that falsely stated that he was a veteran and African American.
The Fintech firm, based in Scottsdale, of the couple, Blueacorn, which co -founded in 2020, processed more than $ 12.5 billion in PPP loans, with between $ 250 million and $ 300 million on the company’s property, including Hockridge.
Blueacorn received more than a billion dollars in taxpayer -funded processing rates to facilitate PPP loans, but spent less than 1% ($ 8.6 million) on fraud prevention and only $ 13.7 million in eligibility verification, according to congressional investigation.
The PPP was a $ 800 million federal loan initiative launched by 2020 to help small businesses keep employees during the Covid-19 pandemic.
It was part of a wider effort (including grants, tax credits and emergency loans) aimed at stabilizing the United States economy and preventing mass business closures and layoffs.
The researchers claimed that the couple used revenue to enrich it personally.
Congress said he won a video created by Kings and Hockridge showing large amounts of cash in a bar on December 21, 2021. According to public records, Reis moved to San Juan, Puerto Rico, who has no capital gain tax, after his work in Blueacorn.
On October 8, 2021, a video obtained by Congress staff who was Geolocat in San Juan showed Hockridge and Kings on the balcony of a luxury beach apartment apartment.
According to a report from Congress, Blueacorn could not properly veto the applicants and charged the borrowers the rules of administration of small illegal companies.
The Congress report described how Blueacorn’s leadership ordered staff to prioritize the speed of accuracy.
Internal messages showed that critics said that they “push” questionable applications, ignore red flags and jump identity controls unless fraud was “extremely obvious.” Some staff processed hundreds of loans without training, sometimes in 30 seconds each.
The subcommittee also uncovered the existence of a “VIPPP” program that allowed the High High Customers to overlook the standard review protocols. The founders rejected smaller loans applicants with phrases such as “eliminate them”, “whoever matters” and “go elsewhere”.
42 -year -old Hockridge was a family face in Arizona’s homes. He spent seven years as an anchor in Knxv-TV, the ABC subsidiary in Phoenix, and had previously worked as a reporter on CBS News Radio in London.
She was nominated for Emmy and called “Favorite Newscaster” by Arizona Foothills Magazine.
Reis is expected to be submitted to court in August 2025 for related charges. Prosecutors claim that he played a leading role in the management of the company’s operations and in the management of its financial distributions.
Hockridge’s conviction marks one of the most profile PPP fraud cases so far with a public figure.
Fraud related to Covid-19 relief programs was not preceding in the history of the United States, with estimated losses in the hundreds of billions, possibly up to $ 1 trillion.
PPP programs, economic injury disaster loans (EIDL) and unemployment insurance programs were especially vulnerable, with vigilantes who denounced widespread misuse, privileged abuse and systemic failures in fraud prevention.
The publication has sought comments from Hockridge and Kings.
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