Jewral McIntyre, owner of Rat Pack Worldwide Security & Consulting in Florida, pleaded guilty to a scheme that used fabricated payroll records and false tax forms to secure and have forgiven a $257,980.87 Paycheck Protection Program loan that claimed 18 employees and an average monthly payroll of $103,192.35 despite the company having no W2 employees.
Jewral McIntyre, 44, of Venice, Florida, admitted in U.S. District Court to participating in a conspiracy to commit bank fraud tied to COVID-19 pandemic relief loans. He pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud before Judge Rudolph Contreras, and sentencing is pending. The scheme centered on applications and supporting documents that investigators say were knowingly false.
According to court records, McIntyre was the registered owner of Rat Pack Worldwide Security & Consulting, incorporated in Florida, and was approached in January 2021 about applying for a Paycheck Protection Program loan in the company’s name. At the instigation of another individual, a co-conspirator prepared an application that claimed Rat Pack employed 18 people and had an average monthly payroll of $103,192.35. Those figures are sharply at odds with facts alleged in the filings, which show Rat Pack had no W2 employees and far smaller payroll costs.
The co-conspirators are accused of creating and submitting fabricated supporting documents with the PPP application, including falsified payroll reports for 2020 and fake Employer’s Quarterly Federal Tax Return Forms 941 for each quarter of 2020. On March 12, 2021, the Small Business Administration and Capital Bank approved the application and deposited $257,980.87 into Rat Pack’s business bank account. The approval followed the submission of the fraudulent paperwork that the conspirators had assembled.
After the funds were deposited, the group allegedly prepared a loan forgiveness application that again misstated employee counts and payroll expenditures, claiming Rat Pack still had 18 employees and had spent the entire $257,980.87 on payroll during the covered period of March 12, 2021, through May 14, 2021. McIntyre electronically signed and submitted that forgiveness application on August 8, 2022, and Capital Bank and the SBA subsequently forgave the loan. Prosecutors say those forgiveness claims relied on the same false records used to win initial approval.
In announcing the guilty plea, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro warned that “Fraud is never a victimless crime—McIntyre’s actions diverted critical resources from the small businesses and workers who needed it most,” said U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro. The statement underlines the government’s position that PPP funds were emergency aid meant to reach legitimate small businesses and employees affected by the pandemic. The case exemplifies how investigators focused on schemes that misused relief programs during a national crisis.
The legal backdrop for the PPP was the CARES Act, enacted on March 29, 2020, which authorized up to $349 billion in forgivable loans for small businesses to cover payroll and certain expenses, and Congress later provided more than $300 billion in additional PPP funding. Those programs aimed to protect jobs during the economic shutdowns caused by COVID-19, but they also created opportunities for fraud that federal investigators have pursued aggressively. This prosecution is one of many that trace back to inflated payroll claims, bogus tax filings, and fabricated documentation submitted to lenders and the SBA.
Investigators named in the announcement included FBI Assistant Director in Charge Darren B. Cox of the Washington Field Office, D.C. Inspector General Daniel Lucas, and Executive Special Agent in Charge Kareem A. Carter of the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Washington, D.C., Field Office. The case was investigated collaboratively by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, the FBI Washington Field Office, the District of Columbia Office of Inspector General, and IRS-CI in Washington, D.C. Prosecutors on the matter were Assistant U.S. Attorney S. Babu Kaza and former Assistant U.S. Attorney Joshua Gold.
The criminal count to which McIntyre pleaded carries penalties that will be determined at sentencing, and the court will consider the full record, including the amount obtained and the use and disposition of the proceeds. The matter remains in active litigation until sentencing and any potential restitution or asset recovery efforts are resolved. Authorities continue to emphasize scrutiny of PPP and CARES Act claims where documentation or reported payroll figures do not line up with verified business records.
