Two Houstonians charged with PPP-related fraud

Two Houston-area residents are charged with defrauding the Small Business Administration's $649 billion Covid-19 relief program. A complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas and unsealed July 13 alleges that Joshua Thomas Argires filed two fraudulent applications for more than $1.1 million in Paycheck Protection Program loans. The applications were submitted on behalf of business entities called Texas Barbecue and Houston Landscaping, which Argires claimed had…