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Cedar Hill home targeted for forfeiture in alleged $680,000 pandemic loan fraud
A federal indictment accuses April Watson of obtaining about $680,000 in pandemic-era business loans using false records and directing more than $114,000 toward building a Cedar Hill home. She faces 10 counts, and prosecutors are seeking forfeiture of the residence.
A 50-year-old North Texas woman has been indicted on federal charges alleging she fraudulently obtained about $680,000 in pandemic relief loans and used more than $114,000 of the money toward construction of a personal residence in Cedar Hill.
April Watson, also known as April Watson Horton and April Shawnette Watson, faces four counts of wire fraud, two counts of bank fraud and four counts of money laundering, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas. The indictment was announced Oct. 26, 2026.
Court documents allege Watson applied for Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loans from April 2020 through October 2021 on behalf of several businesses she owned or operated: Exotic Bliss Beauty LLC, Brain Evolution LLC and Southern Home Ventures LLC.
Prosecutors allege she submitted false payroll summaries and fabricated IRS documents prepared by an outside payroll company. The court documents say the businesses did not generate payroll forms and did not file tax returns reporting wages or gross revenue for 2019 or 2020.
The loans included $210,698 in PPP funding from Kabbage Inc., $299,800 in Economic Injury Disaster Loan money from the U.S. Small Business Administration and another $169,994 in PPP funding from JPMorgan Chase. Together, the payments total $680,492.
After receiving the funds, Watson allegedly transferred more than $114,000 toward building a home in Cedar Hill and wired $40,000 to an associate. Federal prosecutors are seeking forfeiture of the home and a monetary judgment for the full value of the loans.
“Emergency relief programs were enacted as a vital lifeline to keep struggling businesses afloat during the pandemic—not to subsidize private home construction and luxury purchases,” U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould said in a statement.
An indictment is an accusation, and Watson is presumed innocent unless proven guilty. If convicted, she could face up to 20 years in prison for each wire-fraud count, up to 30 years for each bank-fraud count and up to 10 years for each unlawful monetary transaction count.