Framingham woman sentenced for COVID relief loan scheme worth more than $450,000

A Framingham woman was sentenced to prison for operating a COVID-19-related business relief loan program that netted her more than $450,000, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Massachusetts.

Vanessa Nixon, 45, owner of Nixon Homes real estate agency in Framingham, pleaded guilty to one count of bank fraud in March after being indicted in the case in February, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release. Last week, a federal judge sentenced her to five months in prison and three years of supervised release and ordered her to pay nearly $470,000 in restitution and forfeiture.

• Learn more: Framingham woman pleads guilty in pandemic loan relief scheme worth more than $450,000

In addition to Nixon Homes, Nixon owned and operated other Massachusetts businesses, including Mass Homes Investments and Alpha Auto Body, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Between April 2020 and November 2022, she submitted multiple fraudulent COVID-19 business relief loan applications in the names of her businesses, falsifying millions of dollars in revenue.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Nixon also created false tax documents that she submitted with the loan applications to substantiate the falsified income. In total, Nixon received more than $450,000 from these fraudulent loan applications.