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Bạn đang xem: Bridget Corinne O’Brien sentenced to prison after misusing loans
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The Republic
A 51-year-old Arizona woman who operated a therapy clinic for children with special needs is going to prison after a conviction of fraud for misusing pandemic-era loans from the federal government.
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A Maricopa County Superior Court judge last week sentenced Bridget Corinne O’Brien to two years in prison followed by three years of probation for taking advantage of programs that were put in place to help businesses stay afloat during the COVID-19 pandemic.
O’Brien was also ordered to pay $1.3 million in restitution to the federal Small Business Administration, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes’ office says.
Mayes’ Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, led by special agent Roy Garrison, found that O’Brien misused the federal loan funds by purchasing a $1.9 million home in Phoenix. O’Brien also used the money to travel, to purchase clothing and furniture, and to pay for volleyball lessons for one of her children, investigators found.
O’Brien, a mother of two who has a master’s degree in speech pathology, founded a Phoenix therapy clinic for children called Head to Toe Therapy, which was suspended as a provider for Arizona’s Medicaid program in November 2019, state Medicaid and court records show.
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A presentence report says that O’Brien’s actions were “thoughtful, intentional and perhaps prohibited money from being given to another business owner in need during a difficult time.”
O’Brien was awarded $2.9 million in U.S. Small Business Administration loans in 2020 and 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic, court records say. Her loan applications contained “gross material misrepresentations” that allowed her to fraudulently obtain loans, which she subsequently misused to finance a luxurious lifestyle, state investigators found.
The presentence report says that in addition to Head to Toe Therapy, O’Brien owned “multiple limited liability companies, many of which received COVID-19 relief loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration.” The federal agency offered two programs at the time: Paycheck Protection Program, PPP, and Economic Injury Disaster Loan, EIDL.
The presentence report says that between March 31 and Jan. 12, 2021, businesses that O’Brien owned applied for four PPP loans and 19 EIDL loans.
Arizona Corporation Commission records show that a for-profit, Phoenix-based company called Head to Toe Therapy Inc., which lists Bridget O’Brien as its officer, is not currently an active business and that its last annual report filing was in 2021. The company was first incorporated in 2007, state records show.
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