A former Phoenix news anchor, Stephanie Hockridge, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for her role in a fraudulent $63m Covid-19 relief scheme. The sentence was handed down on Friday after a jury convicted her in June. Her husband, Nathan Reis, pleaded guilty to the same charge in August.
According to the US Department of Justice, Hockridge and Reis co-founded a company called Blueacorn in April 2020, ostensibly to help small businesses obtain Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans. However, they fabricated documents such as payroll records, tax filings, and bank statements to fraudulently obtain over $63m in loans. They also charged borrowers kickbacks based on a percentage of the funds received.
The couple operated a so-called 'VIPPP' service that guided clients through loan applications but actually coached them to submit false information. Hockridge recruited others as referral agents to push fraudulent applications, increasing kickbacks and their share of lender fees. A 2022 congressional report found that Blueacorn processed over $1bn in taxpayer money, with partner lenders issuing nearly three times more PPP loans in 2021 than JP Morgan Chase and Bank of America combined.
Internal Slack messages revealed Hockridge's disregard for compliance. In one message, she wrote 'delete them' regarding documents. In another, she said 'who [expletive] cares' about deprioritising smaller, non-VIPPP loans, adding 'We're not the first bank to decline borrowers who deserve to be funded. They go elsewhere.' She also directed a contractor to approve a VIPPP loan without full review, stating the file was 'good' and just needed approval from someone other than herself.
Hockridge worked at ABC15 television station from 2011 to 2018 before the fraud. Her sentence marks a significant conclusion to a case that highlighted widespread abuse of pandemic relief programmes.
