Anchorage business owner charged with wire fraud related to applications for Covid-19 recovery funds Publisher: U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Alaska Byline: Reagan Zimmerman Dateline: Anchorage, Alaska Date: 19 February 2024 Subjects: American Government , Crime, Dealership Operations Topics: Cornerstone Auto Sales, Lloyd Pennebaker Special Collection: COVID-19

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – A federal grand jury in Alaska returned an indictment in October charging an Anchorage businessman with allegedly committing wire fraud related to his application for Covid-19 recovery funds. He was transferred from Texas to Alaska this month.

According to court documents, Lloyd Pennebaker, 58, is the owner of The Pennebaker Group, an organization doing business in Anchorage under the name Cornerstone Auto Sales. Pennebaker was also convicted of three felonies in September 2002.

From April 2020 to May 2021, the defendant applied for and obtained Economic Injury Disaster (EIDL) loans for Cornerstone Auto Sales and received $122,500 in federal funding. Court documents allege Pennebaker made false statements regarding his criminal history on the applications for the EIDL loans, which were sent through interstate communications.

Pennebaker is charged with one count wire fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. §1343.

U.S. Attorney S. Lane Tucker of the District of Alaska and Special Agent in Charge Weston King of the Small Business Administration Office of Inspector General Western Regional Office made the announcement.

The Small Business Administration Office of Inspector General is investigating the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Carly Vosacek is prosecuting the case.

On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Justice Department in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The task force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. For more information on the department’s response to the pandemic, please visit www.justice.gov/coronavirus.

An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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Reagan Zimmerman

Public Affairs Officer

reagan.zimmerman@usdoj.gov

Updated February 19, 2024

Press Release Number: 24-17