Denver man sentenced to 30 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to bank fraud, money laundering

Date: Oct. 14, 2026

Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov

Denver – The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado announces that Steve Randall Howe of Denver, Colorado, was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison, two years of supervised release, restitution in the amount of $1,253,691.84, and a fine of $15,000 after pleading guilty to one count of bank fraud, and one count of money laundering.

According to the plea agreement and facts established at the sentencing hearing, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Howe obtained $1,243,799.91 in emergency Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans based on false representations made to six different banks. In each PPP loan application, the defendant made false representations about the business listed on the application including as to the business’ number of employees and average monthly payroll. Most of the businesses had no employees or business functions. He additionally submitted to the lenders fabricated payroll and tax documents which had not been filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Howe used a majority of the funds not on payroll, but on the lease and purchase of a home, retail purchases, monetary transfers to China, payment for legal services, travel expenses, subscriptions, and gym memberships. The loans were forgiven by the Small Business Administration before any of the defendant’s purported businesses made a single payment.

“This sentence continues to send a clear message that the District of Colorado will not tolerate theft from the American taxpayer,” said United States Attorney for the District of Colorado Peter McNeilly. “We will always seek out criminals who abuse public funds for personal gain.”

“Howe saw the COVID-19 pandemic as an opportunity to defraud the government, depriving small businesses and families of the support they needed,” said Scott Brown, Acting Special Agent in Charge, IRS Criminal Investigation Phoenix Field Office. “This case demonstrates our ongoing commitment to pursuing individuals who abused these pandemic relief programs and ensuring they are held accountable.”

“During the pandemic, financial assistance programs were created to keep businesses and employees afloat, not to line the pockets of greedy opportunists,” said FBI Denver Special Agent in Charge Amanda Koldjeski. “This case is a reminder that the FBI aggressively continues to pursue criminals who think they can defraud the federal government and American taxpayers.”

United States District Judge Nina Y. Wang presided over the sentencing.

The investigation was handled by IRS-Criminal Investigation Denver Field Office and the FBI.

Assistant United States Attorneys Craig Fansler and Taylor Glogiewicz handled the prosecution.

On April 7, 2026, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division (“Fraud Division”). The Fraud Division is laser-focused on investigating and prosecuting those who commit fraud against the American people. The Department’s work to combat fraud supports President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs.

IRS-CI is the law enforcement arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. It is the only federal law enforcement agency with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code. IRS-CI has 16 field offices located across the U.S. and maintains an international presence through attaché posts abroad.