CHARLOTTE — Charlotte councilmember Tiawana Brown held her head high while staring down fraud allegations Friday as she and her two daughters faced a judge in federal court.
They’re accused of filling out more than a dozen fraudulent Covid relief loan applications. They all say they didn’t do it.
As she left court Friday, Brown told Channel 9’s Hunter Sáenz she was pleased with how the day went. Inside court, she was respectful with the judge as she pled not guilty to multiple fraud charges.
The feds say Brown, in part, misused thousands of dollars in Covid relief funds by spending $15,000 on an extravagant and flashy 50th birthday party for herself.
Cameras weren’t allowed in federal court, but we were inside the courtroom as Judge Susan Rodriguez gave Brown and her daughters each a $25,000 unsecured bond. They won’t be held in jail, but they did have to surrender their passports. Brown can still travel throughout the U.S. for her American Airlines job, along with her nonprofit work.
“Any thoughts on your passport being revoked? I know it was a concern to do your job,” Sáenz asked.
“The judge allowed me to do what I love to do and that’s work, travel the world, and help people,” Brown said.
All three of them asked for their cases to go to a jury trial. Brown’s attorney, Rob Heroy, said taking a plea deal is “not up for consideration.”
Heroy told Sáenz that he believes a trial is still months away and will likely be tried in a single case with all three defendants.
Sáenz asked if she feels supported as she left court in Charlotte on a sunny Friday afternoon.
“Absolutely, what do you think? I won every precinct,” Brown said.
But as Sáenz and Channel 9’s Joe Bruno learned, the feds say they have a lot of evidence against her, and it goes beyond the $15,000 birthday bash.
Between April 2021 and September 2021, Brown and her two daughters allegedly used fake information and documentation, including fake tax forms that lied about the number of employees and gross income.
All in all, feds say the trio submitted 15 applications and got at least $124,000 in Covid relief funds.
One example from the indictment included an application by Brown and her daughter for a PPP loan for her swimwear business, TC Collection. Authorities say the two submitted a fake IRS Schedule C form that falsely claimed the company earned $96,000 in net profits in 2019.
But feds say the form was fake and never submitted to the IRS. It was also the exact same form Brown’s other daughter used for two of her businesses.
One of the requirements for the Paycheck Protection Program loans was that a business was in operation prior to Feb. 15, 2020. Brown’s application claimed the business had already been in existence and was profitable, but we found no registered businesses under this name with the Secretary of State’s Office.
Tiawana Brown has previously been convicted of fraud and was Charlotte’s first city councilmember to be elected after serving a prison sentence. She told Sáenz and Bruno on Friday that she wouldn’t resign from the council, and she plans to run for re-election.
If Brown is convicted, current law says she will have to resign from the city council.
(VIDEO: Charlotte councilmember, daughters to face judge on wire fraud charges)
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