Monroe Man Charged with Fraudulently Obtaining COVID-19 Relief Funds and Money Laundering

SHREVEPORT, La. – A federal grand jury returned an indictment yesterday charging a Monroe, Louisiana man with fraudulently obtaining more than $1.1 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) Program loans, announced Acting United States Attorney Alexander C. Van Hook, and Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, along with James E. Dorsey, Special Agent in Charge of Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), and Inspector General Hannibal “Mike” Ware of the Small Business Administration-Office of Inspector General (SBA-OIG).

According to the indictment, Michael Ansezell Tolliver, 56, of Monroe, submitted nine fraudulent PPP and EIDL Program loan applications on behalf of several purported companies that Tolliver owned, including Tolliver Oil & Gas Corporation of Louisiana Inc. and Tolliver Petroleum Corporation of Louisiana. According to the indictment, Tolliver falsified information in the loan applications and supporting documents, including falsely claiming that some of his businesses had over 100 employees. He also submitted falsified federal tax returns. In total, Tolliver sought more than $7.6 million in PPP and EIDL Program loans and obtained more than $1.1 million. Tolliver then allegedly laundered and misused the loan proceeds, including by transferring the funds to personal bank accounts and purchasing cars and luxury goods.

Tolliver is charged with two counts of wire fraud and three counts of money laundering. A summons will be issued and he will make his initial appearance at a later date before U.S. Magistrate Judge Kayla D. McClusky of the U.S. District Court in the Western District of Louisiana. If convicted, Tolliver faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison per count of wire fraud and 10 years in prison per count of money laundering.

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