Daughter of Broward congressional candidate pleads guilty to COVID-19 relief fraud

One day after her father appeared to be winning a Democratic primary race for Congress, Broward County political consultant Damara Holness pleaded guilty Wednesday to stealing $300,000 from a federal government program designed to aid small businesses hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Holness is the 28-yearold daughter of Broward Commissioner Dale Holness, who is narrowly leading the Democratic field to fill the late U.S.

Rep. Alcee Hastings’ vacant seat after Tuesday’s special primary.

Damara Holness was charged with one count of conspiring to commit wire fraud in August. As part of her guilty plea to that charge, she admitted lying about the financial needs of her Plantation consulting business to qualify for a federal Paycheck Protection Program loan guaranteed by the Small Business Administration as part of Congress’ massive pandemic-relief package.

Holness, who has been free on bond since her arrest, faces up to 20 years in prison for her fraud conviction at a Jan. 20 sentencing before U.S. District Judge Rodolfo Ruiz in federal court in Fort Lauderdale. But given the amount of money that she stole, Holness is likely to receive a prison term between three and four years under federal sentencing guidelines.

Holness is represented by defense attorney SueAnn Robinson, who after her client’s arrest described her as a single mother who “despite having a highprofile parent has had to chart her own path personally and professionally.”

Dale Holness, who served as Broward’s mayor last year, said in a text message after her arrest that he and his daughter “have been estranged for many years.”

“She has made it clear to me on multiple occasions that she is an adult and as such has conducted her own affairs,” Holness wrote in the text message to the Miami Herald. “I have no details as to how she conducted her business or what she did with her business.”

“If she has done wrong, I hope she learns from this and uses it as a lesson as to how to better conduct herself in life,” he wrote.

Yet Florida public records show Damara Holness ran her political-consulting business in the same office as her father’s real-estate business, All Broward Realty, at 4325 West Sunrise Boulevard in Plantation. Asked about the same address for both businesses, Dale Holness told the Herald: “She never conducted any business in my office nor did she have keys to my office.”

Damara Holness was among thousands of smallbusiness owners who turned to the federal government for a helping hand during the pandemic, but authorities say she cheated the system by lying about her company’s financial profile and payroll.

The COVID-19 relief program, approved by Congress last year when the coronavirus pandemic swept the nation, was designed to help struggling businesses apply for loans that are guaranteed by the Small Business Administration and ultimately forgiven. Since its inception under the CARES Act, the $650 billion program has been credited with helping small businesses pay employee wages and cover other overhead costs, but it has also generated dozens of cases of fraud in South Florida, one of the hotspots in the country.

Last year, when Damara Holness was serving as president of the Broward County Democratic Black Caucus, she applied for a $300,000 loan for her company, Holness Consulting Inc., according to a criminal information filed in court.

To justify her company’s request, Holness claimed in the loan application that her company employed 18 people and spent an average of $120,000 a month on payroll, the information says. In fact, according to federal prosecutor Jeffrey Kaplan, she had zero employees and no payroll expenses. She was accused of using fraudulent payroll tax forms to support her loan request.

In other South Florida cases, a businessman used PPP money to buy a $318,000 Lamborghini; a nurse is alleged to have lied about his business to get $474,000 that was used in part to pay a MercedesBenz lease and child support; and a North Miami couple claimed to be farmers to qualify for $1 million in relief benefits.