On Monday, June 3, 2024, Ward 2 Douglas City Commissioner Kentaiwon Durham pleaded guilty to one count of wire transfer fraud in federal court in Brunswick. The guilty plea came as a result of a fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan application Durham filed on March 19, 2021.
Court documents show that Durham filed the PPP application through an approved PPP lender in Texas. He showed that he had a business that reported over $96,000 in gross income in the 2019 tax year which, the documents state, Durham “knew . . . to be false.” The amount that Durham received through the PPP load was $19,075, court documents state. He received the funds via wire transfer.
Durham has not been sentenced but court documents indicate that his sentence will be a period of time on probation.
The charge of wire transfer fraud is a felony; as a result, Durham will not be able to continue as a city commissioner. He has not released a statement regarding when or how he plans to step down.