Hicksville Family Members Charged In $13M PPP Fraud Scheme

HICKSVILLE, NY — Two Hicksville people are among three family members facing federal charges after authorities said they tried to obtain $13 million in coronavirus-related business relief money by grossly lying about how many workers they employed at a chain of nail salons in and around the New York City metropolitan area, including the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Long Island.

Ngoc Manh Nguyen, also known as "Peter Nguyen," Victoria Dieuy Ho, also known as "Vicky Ho," and Dat Tat Ho are part of a family that owns a chain of over 15 nail salons called "Victoria Nails & Spa" and other companies. They were arrested Thursday morning after authorities said the trio applied for loans through the U.S. Small Business Administration's Paycheck Protection Program, which was created to help businesses survive coronavirus-related restrictions.

From April 2020 through at least June 2020, Nguyen, Victoria Ho and Dat Ho submitted online applications to two financial institutions seeking over $13 million in government-backed PPP loans, federal prosecutors said. The trio lied about the number of workers, how much those workers earned and their total payroll on those applications to receive larger loans, authorities said, even submitting bogus and doctored payroll and tax records. The same workers were listed as employees at multiple nail salons to support the loan applications, with some listed as employees of as many as seven different nail salons during the same time period, prosecutors said.

PPP loans totaling more than $13 million were approved for the Victoria Companies and about $7.8 million in loan proceeds were disbursed into bank accounts controlled by Nguyen, Dat Ho, and other family members, authorities said. When the trio learned a hold was placed on the bank accounts that received the loans due to suspicious fraud activity, one of them searched the internet for "PPP Fraud," "PPP Loan Fraud Arrests" and "how to get rid of a PPP Loan," prosecutors said. The trio also withdrew the applications for and repaid the loans issued by that financial institution.

Nguyen, 44, and Victoria Ho, 31, both of Hicksville, New York, and Dat Ho, 33, of the Bronx, were each charged with conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud, major fraud against the United States and conspiracy to make false statements.