A Wilmington man, Jady Solano, 43, has been sentenced to 80 months in federal prison for orchestrating a fraud scheme that led to more than $9.1 million in disaster-relief loans being issued to over 60 businesses nationwide. According to court documents, none of these loans were repaid.
Solano worked as a tax preparer in Wilmington and used his position to submit fraudulent applications for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, which were intended to help protect jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic. He prepared these applications on behalf of shell companies that had no actual operations or employees but claimed substantial payrolls—sometimes exceeding $1 million annually. Solano also created false documents such as tax forms and bank statements to support the loan requests.
In total, Solano was responsible for 62 fraudulent loan applications resulting in more than $9.1 million in improper disbursements. He personally received nearly $1.4 million from the scheme and is required by a restitution order from the U.S. District Court to repay this amount.
Seven other individuals involved in the scheme have also been charged across two cases. Shatoya Moss entered a guilty plea and was sentenced to 18 months in prison with restitution set at $578,133.09. Carl Lawrence’s guilty plea is under review by a U.S. District Judge after being recommended by a magistrate judge. Brigitte Miller-Levy, Amber Baldwin, Marvin Edwards, Anthony McKinzy, and Devlon Porter have all been indicted; their involvement remains an allegation unless proven otherwise.
Julianne Murray, U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware, said: “The American taxpayers work hard for their money. And we will work hard to ensure that, when taxpayer money is misused—through waste, fraud, or abuse—the wrongdoers are brought to justice. Jady Solano led a nationwide scheme to steal more than $9 million from the federal government. And the funds he stole were meant for an especially important purpose: helping American workers keep their jobs during a deadly pandemic. Solano’s egregious misconduct warranted the substantial prison sentence the Court handed down today. We hope that sentence sends a message to other potential white-collar criminals: in this District, financial crimes simply will not pay. We thank our law enforcement partners at IRS-CI and the FBI for their tireless and terrific work on this important case.”
Yury Kruty of IRS-Criminal Investigation stated: “Today’s sentencing of Jady Solano again emphasizes that the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation will continue their aggressive pursuit of those who use fraudulent methods in an attempt to corrupt our nation’s tax system.”
FBI Baltimore Special Agent in Charge William J. DelBagno added: “62 times – over and over and over again – Solano fabricated, embellished and lied to steal millions from the government and ultimately, every taxpaying citizen. Now he will pay for each of those lies with this lengthy sentence,” adding that “The FBI will continue to partner with our fellow agencies to identify and unravel these fraud schemes and bring criminals to justice.”
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin L. Wallace prosecuted the case while agents from IRS Criminal Investigation and FBI Baltimore Field Office’s Wilmington Resident Agency conducted the investigation.
Further information about this case can be found on both the website of the U.S Attorney’s Office for Delaware as well as PACER by searching Case Nos 24-cr-91 and 24-cr-109.
