Perth Amboy Beauty Salon Owner Headed To Prison For Defrauding The U.S. Government

PERTH AMBOY, NJ — A woman who owns a Perth Amboy hair salon will serve 20 months in prison for fraudulently obtaining hundreds of thousands in loans from the U.S. federal government.

Damaris Valerio, a/k/a Damaris Tineo Abreu, 42, owns or owned La Vogue House of Beauty, on Smith Street. It is still open today.

She lied to receive three different loans for the salon: Economic Injury Disaster Loan (“EIDL”), Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) and pandemic unemployment insurance benefits, said U.S. Attorney Robert Frazer.

She previously pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering. She was sentenced April 14.

From April 2020 through December 2021, Valerio fraudulently obtained $194,212 in COVID-19 emergency relief funds, which included loans and cash advances meant for distressed small businesses that were forced to shut down during the pandemic. Federal prosecutors say she submitted fraudulent applications that inflated revenue from the hair salon, plus payroll expenses and the number of employees. Here is the criminal complaint against her: justice.gov/d9/2023-11/valerio.complaint.pdf

She spent some of the federal relief money on herself and for personal items, said prosecutors.

She was also ordered to pay $194,212 in restitution.