Treva Harris, a 50-year-old CEO who went viral for staging an extravagant Cinderella-themed prom send-off for her daughter in Philadelphia, has been jailed for a year after defrauding COVID-19 relief programmes of more than half a million dollars. Harris fraudulently obtained funds through the US Small Business Administration's Economic Injury Disaster Loan and Paycheck Protection Program schemes, which were designed to help small businesses survive the pandemic, and prosecutors say she spent the money on personal luxuries and holidays rather than her childcare business.

Harris initially received $514,900 through a legitimate EIDL application for her business, Child Prodigy Education Center, but two months later submitted a separate PPP application containing grossly inflated payroll figures, falsely claiming to have paid $2,568,000 to 27 employees. This fraudulent submission secured a further $535,000 wire transfer, which court filings say she used for cash withdrawals, transfers to her boyfriend and vacations. She pleaded guilty in October to one count of bank fraud and was sentenced last week, having previously spent $27,000 transforming a Philadelphia car park into a Cinderella castle complete with a gilded carriage for her daughter's 2024 prom.