Garner businessman faces 9 counts of fraud in COVID-19 relief loans

A local businessman at the center of a WRAL Investigation is facing federal charges for COVID-19 relief fraud. The charges come more than a year after WRAL Investigates took concerns to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Following a tip, WRAL Investigates cross-checked databases for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), comparing names, owners and addresses of local businesses that received loans. After searching through hundreds of thousands of loans in North Carolina alone, WRAL Investigates found seven companies in Garner and Raleigh that received 13 disaster loans totaling almost $1.5 million, most...