A former pastor from Ocala is facing up to 20 years in federal prison after being convicted of fraudulently obtaining over $500,000 in COVID-19 relief funds.
On Monday, U.S. Attorney Roger B. Handberg announced that a federal jury has found 47-year-old Henry Troy Wade guilty of six counts of wire fraud. A federal grand jury had returned an indictment against Wade in November of 2022.
Wade previously served as a senior pastor at a church in northwest Ocala for multiple years.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) provided loans to small businesses, and one source of these funds was Economic Injury Disaster Loans.
According to testimony and evidence that was presented at trial, between the dates of April 5, 2020, and March 24, 2021, Wade applied for a total of 11 Economic Injury Disaster Loans on behalf of five different businesses he claimed to own.
Five of these loan applications were approved, and Wade electronically received funds from four loans and two grants totaling $524,400.
Court records show that Wade’s applications “contained multiple factual misrepresentations.” Specifically, he claimed that he owned a restaurant, a farm, a child daycare facility, and two heating and air conditioning businesses despite not having the necessary licenses for any of these types of businesses.
Even though Wade listed multiple employees on the Economic Injury Disaster Loan applications, he never paid any employment taxes. In addition, the business names were not registered with the Internal Revenue Service or the Florida Department of Revenue.
Wade also “misrepresented his business income” on the loan applications by “hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
A sentencing hearing for Wade is scheduled for January of 2025. He is facing a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison for each count of wire fraud.
This case was investigated by the United States Secret Service. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Hannah Nowalk.