Reports

BOSTON – A Plymouth woman has been arrested and charged with wire fraud for submitting fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan applications on behalf of herself and her father.

JOSEPH J. CIPOLLA JR. was ordered to pay $2 million in restitution to the IRS, State of Illinois, U.S. Small Business Administration, and other entities and individuals.

Tampa, Florida – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces that a federal jury has found Barrett Purvis (54, Tampa) guilty of wire fraud and money laundering. Purvis faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison for the wire fraud offense and up to 10 years’ imprisonment for the money laundering offense.

A Maryland man pleaded guilty today to conspiring to defraud Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act loan programs and to his role in a years-long scheme to defraud commercial equipment financing companies.

Earlier today, at the federal courthouse in Central Islip, a criminal complaint was unsealed charging Jonathan Cannon and Julie Dotton with wire fraud in connection with a scheme to defraud a company seeking to purchase personal protective equipment (“PPE”) at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Our office is committed to rooting out abuse of the relief programs provided by the CARES Act," said Acting U.S. Attorney Morris Pasqual.

Anton Demetrius Matthews, age 40, of Wheeling, West Virginia, was sentenced to more than 13 years in prison for wire fraud, cocaine trafficking, and a supervised release violation. According to United States Attorney William Ihlenfeld, Matthews obtained nearly $50,000 in CARES Act loans after misrepresenting his income and occupation while he was incarcerated.

NEWARK N.J. – A Middlesex County, New Jersey, man was sentenced today to 30 months in prison for conspiring to illegally obtain over $400,000 in COVID-19 unemployment benefits.

On April 25, a central Florida man was sentenced to 12 months and a day in federal prison for fraudulently obtaining COVID-19 relief loans and grants under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the Economic Injury Disaster Relief Program (EIDL); after previously pleading guilty to wire fraud.