A Florida woman used a pandemic Paycheck Protection Program loan to hire a hitman, police say.
Miami authorities say that Jasmine Martinez, 33, last year used part of a $15,000 PPP loan to hire hitman Javon Carter to kill Le'Shonte Jones, a Transportation Security Administration agent.
Jones was shot and killed in broad daylight on May 3, 2021. Her three-year-old daughter was also injured in the shooting.
Martinez received the loan on April 20, 2021, and withdrew $10,000 days before Jones's murder, the New York Times reported.
Because the federal government wanted to get out pandemic relief money so quickly, it waived traditional vetting on business loans, creating extensive opportunities for fraud, according to the Times.
"It is unclear whether Ms. Martinez owned a business or how she was able to obtain a PPP loan," the paper noted.
Martinez and Carter were arrested last week.