Florida woman listed as receiving $3.4M COVID grant she never applied for

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – A Florida gas station employee said she’s listed as receiving a $3.4 million COVID relief check that she never applied for and never received.

Holly Hill resident Amy Williams said she's stunned that her name and an outdated address ended up in the federal database stating that she received millions in COVID Restaurant Revitalization Funds for a catering business. Williams never applied for the funds, never received any money and has never worked in the restaurant business.

“I’m still processing it,” Williams said.

Williams never applied for the funds, never received any money and has never worked in the restaurant business.

Of the 31 Daytona Beach businesses that received the COVID relief funds, Williams is at the top, allegedly receiving the biggest check for a catering business she does not have, according to the Daytona Beach News-Journal.

And she hasn’t lived at the address listed on the check for nearly eight years, she said.

“I just don’t understand how a government agency could just release these funds without really doing any kind of investigation on the business,” Williams said.

The next highest check in the area went to a beachside nightlife spot for nearly $560,000, the paper reported.

Williams' husband works as a restaurant cook, but that's their only tie to the food industry. And that restaurant did not receive any relief funds either.

“I don’t have any money,” said Williams. “I’d really love to know how this happened.”

The 44-year-old had been unemployed for three years while battling breast cancer and recently started working at a gas station. She and her husband live with their three children in a modest apartment.

U.S. Secret Service Special Agent in Charge Caroline O’Brien-Bruster told News 6 there are likely many victims of similar schemes, saying 1 in 5 Floridians are probably victims of some form of SBA loan fraud.

“If someone took out a ($3.4 million loan) in her name, chances are some of her neighbors having loans taken out in their name are probably pretty high,” O’Brien-Bruster said.

O’Brien-Bruster said Williams won’t have to pay the money back because she is a victim of identity theft.

The U.S. Secret Service stresses anyone that discovers their identity has been used by SBA loan imposters needs to file a police report and check their credit report.

“It doesn’t cost anything to see if there’s anything on there she has not applied for,” O’Brien-Bruster said.

O’Brien-Bruster also shared the following tips:

Go to Report ID theft and fraud (sba.gov) once there, scroll down to Report COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) identity theft or Report PPP identity theft and it will direct you to this link for reporting.

File an identity theft report with your local Police Department of Sheriff’s Office

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The Small Business Administration declined comment on the mistaken check, saying its Office of Inspector General and the agency’s federal partners are working diligently to resolve fraud incidents.