KC Reporter

A Kansas City woman has admitted in federal court to participating in a scheme to obtain fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, which were guaranteed by the Small Business Administration under the CARES Act.

Rasheda McDaniel, 42, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Greg Kays to one count of wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft.

According to court documents, McDaniel and co-defendant Briauna Adams used another person's personal identification information on March 22, 2021, to submit an online application for a COVID-19 relief PPP loan in that individual's name. The application reported a business with Schedule C gross receipts of $147,412 and net income of $98,562. However, the actual tax return for that business showed zero taxable income and did not include a Schedule C.

The PPP loan was approved on April 2, 2021, resulting in a wire deposit of $20,832. On the same day, $2,000 was transferred to an account controlled by Adams and $18,830 went into McDaniel’s account.

Court records also show that on February 27, 2021, Adams submitted another online PPP loan application using McDaniel’s name and personal identification information provided by McDaniel herself. The documents stated that McDaniel was the sole proprietor of a business established July 7, 2017 with an average monthly payroll of $8,333. A supporting Form Schedule C from 2019 claimed gross receipts of $144,080 and profit of $99,982; however, no such business existed with those earnings during that period.

On March 4, 2021, McDaniel’s personal account received a wire deposit for $20,832 related to this second fraudulent application. That same day she withdrew $15,000 in cash from her account.

Briauna Adams previously pleaded guilty to multiple fraud charges on May 7, 2025 and is awaiting sentencing.

McDaniel could face up to 22 years in federal prison without parole. The maximum statutory sentence is set by Congress for informational purposes; the actual sentence will be determined by the court based on advisory guidelines and other factors after a presentence investigation conducted by the United States Probation Office.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul S. Becker prosecuted this case following investigations led by IRS-Criminal Investigation and the Kansas City Police Department.