Reports

NEWARK, N.J. – Three individuals were charged today for falsely seeking more than $2.9 billion from the IRS by filing 131 false tax forms claiming COVID-19 related employment tax credits.

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Before opening statements, Gordon Hunter Pedersen, 64, of Cedar Hills, Utah, pleaded guilty today to mail fraud. The case against Pedersen received national attention after he, acting as a doctor, promoted and sold silver products that falsely claimed could treat and cure diseases, including COVID-19.

Seattle – A 62-year-old Seattle woman was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to 52 consecutive weekends (208 days) of confinement at FDC-SeaTac beginning on March 22, 2024 as a special condition of a 3-year term of supervision for her scheme to steal nearly half a million dollars in COVID 19 benefits, announced U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman.

NEWARK, N.J. – A pharmaceutical manufacturer based in Puerto Rico entered into a settlement agreement with the United States resolving allegations that the company violated the False Claims Act by taking a loan from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) to which the company was not entitled.

Huu Tieu, 61, of Porterville, pleaded guilty Tuesday to three counts of introduction of misbranded drugs into interstate commerce.

Raisha Kelly, 43, and Widny Thibaud, 44, of Loxahatchee, Florida and Cortira Gray, 33, and Ann Gilchrist, 55 of Miami, Florida have been charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud wire fraud in connection with their submission of false and fraudulent PPP loan applications.

Two former City of Miami Police Department (MPD) employees pled guilty for their involvement in separate COVID-19 relief fraud cases.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A federal grand jury has charged two Central Ohio women with crimes related to fraudulently receiving more than $2.8 million total in covid-relief funds from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA -- U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that JULIO A. GONZALEZ, JR.( GONZALEZ), age 26, of Chalmette, La., was sentenced on March 6, 2024 by United States District Judge Lance M. Africk, to three months in jail, a $100 mandatory special assessment fee and payment of $23,433.85 in restitution after previously pleading guilty to making false statements related to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1001.