Hialeah man's scheme netted $1.9M in PPP funds

Richard Simpkins, aka Rick Royster, of Hialeah, pleaded guilty June 21 to charges related to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and money laundering.

According to the indictment issued by a U.S. Middle District of Florida grand jury, Simpkins, 47, along with co-conspirator and Dade City resident Keith Nicoletta, 48, submitted a false and fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program loan application in May 2020 that resulted in more than $1.9 million being disbursed from a Utah bank to a Lakeland credit union account controlled by Nicoletta. Nicoletta opened the account in the name of West Coast Cores LLC, a Dade City-based company he created in 2016 that had no employees other than Nicoletta and his wife.

Two other co-conspirators, known only by the initials H.B. and J.F., are mentioned as participating in the scheme in the indictment, but they do not show up in Simpkins’ plea agreement.