A Caledonia man was sentenced Monday to 18 months in prison for receiving $800,000 in fraudulent Economic Injury Disaster Loans related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to court documents, Herman Nash, 63, applied for three separate loans and received a total of $800,000. Nash claimed the loans for a business that did not exist. Nash’s loan applications claimed that his business generated $455,000 in gross revenue and $90,000 in cost of goods sold when, in reality, Nash did not have a business at all.

U.S. Senior District Judge Glen H. Davidson sentenced Nash to serve 18 months imprisonment followed by 5 years supervised release and $738,000 in restitution. As a part of the investigation, the IRS seized two vehicles from Nash worth over $60,000.

“This defendant stole money that was intended to help legitimate businesses survive during the COVID pandemic, and now he is paying the price for that conduct,” said U.S. Attorney Clay Joyner. “We hope that this sentence will provide notice to all of those who defrauded their fellow taxpayers in similar fashion that they will be held to account for their actions.”

“The sentencing today is an example of the accountability people who fraudulently obtained COVID-19 relief funds can expect,” said Demetrius Hardeman, Special Agent in Charge, IRS Criminal Investigation, Atlanta Field Office. “IRS Criminal Investigation special agents have not stopped pursing those who committed fraud on programs that financially helped Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The Criminal Investigation Division of the Internal Revenue Service investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Clay Dabbs prosecuted the case.