Tatiana Vazquez, 39 and Marquise Highsmith, 41, who lived in Midland, pleaded guilty to federal charges for stealing over $1 million in COVID-19 relief funds. The pair defrauded the Small Business Administration and the Internal Revenue Service, according to U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson.
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During a court appearance on Friday, Vazquez pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy affecting a financial institution and conspiracy to defraud the government. Highsmith had previously entered his guilty plea on Oct. 7, 2025, for the same charges.
From May 2020 to January 2022, Vazquez and Highsmith, along with their co-conspirators, submitted multiple fraudulent applications to secure loans under the Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loan program.
The applications contained false information regarding their businesses’ tax filings, number of employees and other financial data, the attorney’s office said.
As a result of their fraudulent scheme, Vazquez and Highsmith personally received over $450,000 in COVID-19 relief funds.
Following this, they filed loan forgiveness applications that included misrepresentations, leading to some of the loans being forgiven.In a separate conspiracy from July 2022 to February 2023, they unlawfully obtained COVID-19 relief funds through other IRS-administered programs.
This included the Employee Retention Credit program and the Sick Leave and Family Leave Credit program, allowing certain businesses to claim refundable federal tax credits.
By filing fraudulent forms, the couple is alleged to have falsely claimed millions in tax credits and refunds from the IRS, with their total improper financial gains exceeding $1 million associated with COVID-19-related tax refunds.
Both Vazquez and Highsmith are currently released on bond and a sentencing date for their cases has not yet been set.
VIDEO: Charlotte man poses as loan consultant in $1 million COVID-19 scheme
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