SALT LAKE CITY (Scripps News Salt Lake City) — A federal grand jury has indicted former Olympic speedskater and Utah resident Allison Baver on nine counts that accuse her of lying to obtain $10 million from the Paycheck Protection Program.
The indictment was filed Wednesday in federal court in Salt Lake City. A docket shows Baver, 41, has not yet entered a plea, but she has been issued a summons to be arraigned Jan. 18 at the federal courthouse in Salt Lake City.
Baver did not return messages seeking comment Thursday.
In June, FOX 13 Investigates reported on the loans Baver’s company had received, as had previous Salt Lake Tribune reporting.
According to the indictment, on its PPP application, Allison Baver Entertainment claimed it had 430 employees and a monthly payroll of $4 million. However, the indictment says she, in fact, had no employees and no payroll.
The grand jury indicted Baver on eight counts of making false statements to a bank and one count of money laundering.
A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney for Utah says Baver faces 30 years in prison on the bank fraud counts and 10 years on the money laundering count.
Baver has had an aspiring film career and recently had a small role in the film “No Man of God,” about killer Ted Bundy and starring actor Elijah Wood. The indictment adds that Baver Entertainment transferred $150,000 to the film’s production company.
The PPP program was meant to help businesses keep employees and pay expenses they had before the pandemic — such as rent and utilities. The program was not meant to provide capital.
The indictment says the government wants Baver, 41, to forfeit about $9.7 million of what she received.
Baver is a Pennsylvania native who moved to Utah to train for the Olympics. She made three U.S. squads, winning a bronze medal with a relay team at the 2010 Vancouver games.
This story was originally published Dec. 16, 2021, by KSTU in Salt Lake City, an E.W. Scripps Company.
