PHOENIX (AZFamily) — A former Phoenix news anchor will learn her punishment for taking part in a COVID-19 loan fraud scheme alongside her husband.
Stephanie Hockridge, an ex-KNXV anchor, is set to be sentenced in a federal court in Fort Worth, Texas, on Friday. Earlier this year, a jury found her guilty of one conspiracy charge to commit wire fraud but found her innocent of four counts of wire fraud.
During the pandemic, Hockridge and her husband, Nathan Reis, started a tech company called BlueAcorn to help small businesses receive federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans. However, prosecutors said that the couple created fake payroll records, tax documents and bank statements to allow some applicants to receive larger loans.
Prosecutors said the couple showed others how to submit fake PPP loans, and even obtained a loan for a company with no employees.
A congressional report, as reported by Arizona’s Family Investigates, showed that the Scottsdale-based company raked in over a billion dollars in taxpayer money for processing loans. BlueAcorn’s partner lenders facilitated almost three times as many PPP loans in 2021 than J.P. Morgan, Chase and Bank of America combined. The congressional report alleged that the couple also moved to Puerto Rico after getting most of their PPP loans forgiven.
Reis accepted a plea deal and is scheduled to be sentenced in December.
David Baker and Amy Cutler contributed to this report.
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