Woman who took fraudulent COVID-19 loans to be sentenced on June 26

BOSTON — A Framingham woman who owns several businesses has pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to fraudulently obtaining $460,000 worth of COVID-19 relief loans.

Vanessa Nixon, 45, is scheduled to be sentenced on June 26.

Nixon owns several businesses, including Nixon Homes in Framingham and Alpha Auto Body of Hudson.

According to federal court records, between August 2020 and November 2022, Nixon submitted several fraudulent loan applications in the name of her various businesses through the Paycheck Protection Program and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program, claiming she earned millions in business income.

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Authorities said Nixon then created false tax documents to "prove" how much her companies made and how much she paid for income tax, inflating the numbers significantly. She received $460,000 in loans, which were later forgiven by banks and the U.S. Small Business Administration.

In all, Nixon falsified six loan requests with falsified tax documents to obtain six separate loans, according to court records.

Nixon was charged in February after an investigation by the federal COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force.

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Nixon pleaded guilty to bank fraud as part of a plea agreement, according to federal court records. Sentencing guidelines call for a 10- to 16-year sentence. As part of the agreement, prosecutors agreed to recommend the lower end of the guidelines. Nixon will also have to forfeit any proceeds from the loans and pay restitution of nearly $460,000.

She is on pretrial probation while awaiting sentencing.

Neither Nixon nor her attorney, Boston-based Vikas Dhar, could be reached for comment.

Norman Miller can be reached at 508-626-3823 or nmiller@wickedlocal.com. For up-to-date public safety news, follow him on X @Norman_MillerMW or on Facebook at facebook.com/NormanMillerCrime.

This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Framingham woman pleads guilty to fraudulently getting pandemic money