Springfield woman sentenced to prison for PPP fraud

A Springfield woman has been sentenced to 60 months and one day in prison for fraudulently securing Paycheck Protection Program loans.

Lisa Gee, 34, additionally was ordered to forfeit $58,666 to the government, according to a news release from the office of Teresa Moore, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Missouri. The forfeiture represents the amount she received via PPP loans.

Gee pleaded guilty in November 2021 to one count of wire fraud and one count of mail fraud. As part of the plea, she admitted to providing false statements on three PPP loan applications for cleaning service businesses she operated.

Gee, a prior felon, lied about a PPP loan application question asking whether she had been convicted of "a felony within the past year, or of any felony within the past five years that involved fraud, bribery, embezzlement or a false statement in a loan application."

In 2017, Gee was sentenced to two years and six months in prison and ordered to pay $10,994 in restitution to her victims in a scheme that involved a forged check, credit card fraud and stealing mail, according to the release. She pleaded guilty to stealing mail from at least 40 individuals in Greene, Christian and Polk counties that same year, according to past reporting.

In the most recent court case, prosecutors said that had Gee told the truth about her prior felony history, she would not have been awarded PPP funds.