From August 2017 through May 2021, Dara Buck of Ladson, South Carolina, led a conspiracy to secure the fraudulent discharge of federal student loans using falsified disability claims and to fraudulently obtain funding from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act’s Paycheck Protection Program. Buck, who at the time of the offenses was an active-duty US Army soldier stationed at Fort Stewart, Georgia, was the leader of a group of coconspirators who carried out the scheme. Buck was sentenced to 42 months in federal prison and three years of supervised released after previously pleading guilty. She was also ordered to pay restitution of over $3.5 million. This case was investigated by the VA OIG, Small Business Administration OIG, Defense Criminal Investigative Service, US Army Criminal Investigation Division, and the US Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.
