Another former Phoenix news Anchor is making news…

Former KNXV Anchor Stephanie Hockridge is named in a congressional report that claims that the company she founded with her husband facilitated fraud while processing processed Paycheck Protection Program loan applications during the pandemic.

According to a congressional subcommittee report, Hockridge and her husband’s company, Blueacorn, helped process more than $12 billion in PPP loans.

The report says:

• Blueacorn received over $1 billion in taxpayer-funded processing fees. It transferred nearly $300 million in profits to its owners while only spending $8.6 million—less than one percent of the fees it received for its PPP work on fraud prevention.

• Blueacorn loan reviewers reported receiving poor training and being pressured to “push through” PPP loans, even if the reviewers doubted the authenticity of the loan’s supporting documents.

• Blueacorn’s owners directed reviewers to prioritize “monster loans [that] will get everyone paid” and created an exclusive category of PPP loans, called “VIPPP” loans. Blueacorn’s owners were dismissive of other loans, writing “delete them,” “who f***ing cares,” and “[w]e’re not the first bank to decline [PPP] borrowers who deserve to be funded… they go elsewhere.”

• According to their former business partners, Blueacorn founders Reis and Hockridge attempted to directly charge some applicants a 10% fee for successfully procuring PPP loans—in violation of SBA rules.

• Blueacorn’s founders arranged PPP loans for themselves through Blueacorn, some of which have signs of potential fraud. In addition to likely taking over $120 million in taxpayer-funded PPP processing fees as personal profit, Mr. Reis and Ms. Hockridge received nearly $300,000 in PPP loans, some of which were facilitated by their own company.

• In one application, Mr. Reis claimed to be an African American and a veteran—both of which appear to be false.

• The owners of Elev8 Advisors—Blueacorn’s primary eligibility verification and compliance consultants—received PPP loans for themselves, their businesses, and their family members through Blueacorn’s lending partners.

The committee forwarded the findings from the 129-page report to the Department of Justice for a possible criminal investigation.

H/T KNXV