The controversial Ellen Cockrum has found herself trapped in a financial scandal that defrauds the United States’ financial system of approximately US$6.6 million under the COVID-19 Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), for which she is being prosecuted at the United States District Court of Georgia, Atlanta Division.
Ellen Corkrum is the former Managing Director of the Liberia Airport Authority (LAA) who was chased out of Liberia for duping the Liberian government and secretly recording damning conversations of a number of government officials of the Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf administration. She was also accused of awarding lots of RIA contracts, valued at hundreds of thousands US dollars, to a purported consultancy owned by her fiancé, Melvin Johnson, who was based in Senegal at the time.
Even though a Liberian, Cockrum holds a US citizenship and serves the US military as a commercial pilot.
According to court documents accessed by the Hot Pepper, Cockrum knowingly, with the intent to defraud, executed and attempted to execute a scheme and artifice to obtain moneys, funds, and assets owned by and under the custody and control of a financial institution—the accounts of which were insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation—by means of materially false and fraudulent pretenses, representations, promises, and omissions by presenting false IRS Forms 941 and a false bank statement in support of, and for the purpose of, obtaining a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan.
The Paycheck Protection Program, which came into being as a result of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act, is a federal law enacted in or around March 2020 and designed to provide emergency financial assistance to the millions of Americans who are suffering the economic effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cockrum tapped on the opportunity to obtain approximately US$8,578,556, of which approximately US$6,652,031.50 was disbursed between April and June 2020. She dubiously registered seven entities under the name Hunter Vanpelt and applied for the PPP loan through the entities.
Under Georgia Nephrology Physician Associated, on April 27, 2020 Cockrum applied for US$494,877, claiming that the entity has 12 employees, with an average monthly payroll of US$197,951. Under the United Healthcare Group & Co., she applied for US$577,122, claiming that the company has 31 employees, with an average monthly payroll of US$230,849. Also, on May 5, 2020, she used Aburi Holdings Limited to apply for US$634,965, with the claim that the company has 34 employees, with an average monthly payroll of US$253,986. Other entities registered with Hunter Vanpelt are Nephrology Network Group, First Corporate International, Corkrum Consolidated Inc. and Kiwi International Inc.
The total loan sought out by the seven companies amounted to US$8,578,556, (eight million five hundred seventy-eight thousand five hundred fifty-six US dollars), and the total of $6,652,031.50 (six million six hundred fifty-two thousand and thirty-one US dollar fifty cents) was disbursed to six of the companies, with the Corkrum Consolidated Inc.’s application being processed.
According to an investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Vanpelt is a resident of Roswell, Georgia. Vanpelt is also known as Ellen Corkrum and Ellen Yabba Kwame Corkrum. The investigation revealed that Vanpelt, a/k/a Ellen Corkrum, is a former government official of Liberia. The investigation also revealed that Ellen Corkrum legally changed her name in the State of Georgia to Hunter Vanpelt on or about July 13, 2016. Despite obtaining the purported name change, the investigation revealed that Vanpelt has continued to use the Ellen Corkrum name since that date. Three of the PPP loan applications discussed above were submitted under the name of Vanpelt, while three others were submitted under the name Ellen Corkrum, and one was submitted under the name of Vanpelt’s son.
Meanwhile, Vanpelt/Cockrum is being prosecuted for being in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section(s) 1344, at the United States District Court, Northern District of Georgia, presided over by United States Magistrate Judge, Regina D. Cannon.