Evergreen Reporter

A Durham man has been sentenced to 84 months in prison for fraudulently obtaining over $1,300,000 in mortgages and more than $1,600,000 through fraudulent Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) and Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) proceeds. Reynold Eugene Mullen pled guilty to the charges on April 13, 2023.

“This white-collar fraud on American taxpayers is stunning. We live in a generous nation that lends a hand to those in need,” said U.S. Attorney Michael Easley. "When defendants like Mullen take advantage of that generosity – to buy beach houses and plastic surgery – we will fight for every penny to be returned to the public purse.”

“Mullen not only used washed credit reports and fabricated bank statements to obtain mortgages; he also took advantage of aid programs intended to provide critical relief for hardworking members of our communities impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak by fraudulently obtaining pandemic program loans,” said Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS CI) Assistant Special Agent in Charge Brian Thomas, Charlotte Field Office. “IRS CI, along with our law enforcement partners remain vigilant in identifying, investigating, and recommending those individuals for prosecution who willfully seek to defraud the United States Treasury and blatantly disregard the victims of their schemes.”

According to court documents and other information presented in court, between 2019 and 2021, Reynold Eugene Mullen, 48, and his girlfriend Tiffany Dawn Russell used “washed” credit reports and fabricated bank statements to obtain four mortgages totaling $1,374,000 for properties in Miami, Florida; Rocky Mount, North Carolina; and Nags Head, North Carolina.

Between March 2020 and July 2021, Mullen and Russell also submitted fraudulent EIDL and PPP applications on behalf of entities they owned entirely or partially. They provided false monthly payroll amounts and misrepresented the number of employees at these entities. Additionally, they submitted fraudulent tax returns as part of these applications. As a result of these actions, Mullen and Russell obtained more than $1,600,000 which they used to purchase six properties and pay for Mullen’s plastic surgery.

On May 25, 2022 Russell was sentenced to 63 months in prison along with five years of supervised release for her role in this scheme.

Michael Easley made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge James C. Dever III. The Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations unit alongside the Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated the case while Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa K. Labresh prosecuted it.

Related court documents can be found on the website of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina or on PACER under Case No. 5:23-CR-33-D.