PHILADELPHIA, PA — A New Jersey woman who operated a Philadelphia childcare business was sentenced this week to 12 months and one day in federal prison and ordered to repay $535,000 after admitting she used fabricated payroll records to obtain a Paycheck Protection Program loan.
U.S. District Judge John F. Murphy also sentenced Treva Harris, 50, of Medford, to three years of supervised release, imposed a $7,500 fine and ordered a $100 special assessment, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Harris pleaded guilty in October to one count of bank fraud after being charged by information in August 2025 and waiving prosecution by indictment.
Court filings and statements cited by prosecutors show Harris applied for multiple Small Business Administration-backed pandemic relief loans in 2020 for Child Prodigy Education Center, a Philadelphia childcare business.
An Economic Injury Disaster Loan application submitted in April 2020 reported that the business had three employees, $165,907 in gross income during the previous 12 months and $113,420 in cost of goods sold, which the government characterized as payroll. The application resulted in approximately $514,900 in disbursements to Harris.
Two months later, Harris submitted a PPP application claiming the same business had 27 employees and monthly payroll of $214,000, or $2.568 million annually, according to prosecutors.
The PPP application included fabricated IRS documentation and resulted in a $535,000 loan. Prosecutors stated that Harris spent much of the money on personal luxury retail purchases, large cash withdrawals and checks to her boyfriend’s business.
The Paycheck Protection Program was established to provide emergency financial assistance to small businesses and workers affected by the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys S. Chandler Harris and Matthew T. Newcomer prosecuted it.
