Reports

A San Diego restaurant owner was sentenced to 42 months in prison for schemes to defraud COVID-19 relief programs and filing false tax returns.

Carson Tahoe Health System, which owns Carson Tahoe Physician Clinics and Carson Tahoe Continuing Care Hospital, has agreed to pay $8,876,475.45 to settle allegations that they were not eligible for the four Paycheck Protection Program loans that they obtained.

Torrance-based skilled nursing facilities chain Unified Care Services LLC, its affiliates, and its owner, Emmanual David, have agreed to pay $18 million to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act (FCA) by knowingly providing false information in support of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan applications and loan forgiveness applications submitted by Unified Care and its affiliates, the Justice Department announced today.

Allstar Health Providers Inc., a Rancho Cucamonga-based home health agency, and its owner, Maria Chua, have agreed to pay $399,990 to the United States to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act when they knowingly received and retained more than one Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan prior to Dec. 31, 2020, in violation of PPP rules, the Justice Department announced today.

Yosef Y. Manela, a Los Angeles-based businessman who owns and operates an accounting firm, law firm and consulting company, has paid $802,341 to the United States to resolve allegations that he and his three companies violated the False Claims Act in connection with six loans the businesses received under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), the Justice Department announced today.

The Bloom Firm, a Calabasas-based law firm, and Lisa Bloom and Braden Pollock, members of the firm’s senior management, have agreed to pay a total of $274,000 to settle allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by knowingly providing false information in support of a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan forgiveness application submitted by The Bloom Firm.

West Coast Dental Administrative Services LLC (formerly West Coast Dental Services Inc.), a Brentwood-based company which operates a network of dental offices in Southern California, and its founders and former owners, Drs. Soleyman Cohen-Sedgh, Farid Pakravan and Farhad Manavi, have paid $6.3 million to resolve allegations that they knowingly violated the False Claims Act in connection with seven improper loans that West Coast Dental Services Inc. (West Coast Dental) and affiliated dental offices received under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).

A South Bay man who provided lifestyle and personal development coaching to students in public schools through a non-profit he founded was arrested today on an indictment alleging he and his accomplices fraudulently applied for millions of dollars in COVID-19 jobless benefits, including by using stolen identities.

SAN DIEGO – Multiple nonprofit organizations—including two private country clubs and two homeowners associations—have paid $5,809,021.60 to settle allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by knowingly submitting false claims and obtaining Paycheck Protection Program loans for which they were not eligible.

As a result of Operation Fraud Street Mafia, a Kern Valley State Prison (KVSP) inmate has been charged in two separate federal complaints with drug trafficking and COVID-19 fraud. Seven defendants in California and Maryland are also charged in the two schemes.

SAN DIEGO – Thomas Zolezzi of San Diego pleaded guilty in federal court today, admitting that he committed fraud to obtain almost $3 million intended to help those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. In his plea agreement, Zolezzi admitted he submitted five loan applications containing false statements to trick lenders into providing the relief funds. He used the borrowed funds to pay his personal expenses. As part of his guilty plea, Zolezzi agreed to pay restitution of $700,884.75 to the Small Business Administration (“SBA”) and $2,238,910.24 to Capital Plus Financial.

A Glendale man was sentenced today to 78 months in federal prison for laundering at least $3 million in fraudulently obtained unemployment insurance (UI) benefits that his accomplices fraudulently obtained during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A convicted felon from Orange County who used social media to instruct his Instagram followers on how to defraud banks was sentenced today to 90 months in federal prison for conspiring with a bank employee and others to commit a check fraud scheme in which they sought $1.2 million.

A Riverside County man was sentenced today to 68 months in federal prison for orchestrating a scheme to obtain more than $2.1 million in pandemic-related unemployment insurance (UI) benefits by filing fraudulent applications claiming, among other things, that the claimants were salon and barbershop workers rendered jobless by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Jaswinder Bhangoo, 50, of Bakersfield, pleaded guilty today to stealing $163,750 in COVID-19 relief money.

Nigerian nationals Quazeem Owolabi Adeyinka, 22, and Ayodeji Jonathan Sangode, 25, currently both residing in Maryland, were sentenced today to 26 months and 14 months in prison respectively for their roles a fraud conspiracy during the COVID-19 pandemic,

A San Fernando Valley man who was the leader of a conspiracy that stole more than $800,000 in COVID-19 jobless benefits has been sentenced to over eight years in federal prison.

A federal grand jury has charged a doctor who operated clinics in Westminster and Garden Grove with defrauding a COVID-19 program for uninsured patients by submitting more than a quarter billion dollars in claims – ultimately receiving about $150 million in payments – for services not covered under the program or simply not provided.

Quinten Giovanni Moody, aka Christano Rossi, 39, of Dublin, was sentenced today to seven years in prison for aggravated identity theft, obstruction of justice, and conspiracy to distribute marijuana.

Ruben Mireles, 48, of Clovis, pleaded guilty today to stealing $1.4 million in COVID-19 relief money.

Telvin Breaux, 32, an inmate at the California Correctional Institution in Tehachapi, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy and aggravated identity theft charges for leading a $25 million fraud against the California Employment Development Department (EDD) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Three of Breaux’s co-defendants, Fantasia Brown, 35, of Los Angeles, Shanice White, 29, of Hawthorne, and Holly White, 33, of Los Angeles, also pleaded guilty for their roles in the fraud.

The Justice Department announced today the results of a coordinated, nationwide enforcement action to combat COVID-19 fraud, which included 718 enforcement actions – including federal criminal charges against 371 defendants – for offenses related to over $836 million in alleged COVID-19 fraud.

Ranjan Rajbanshi, D.D.S., 46, of Bakersfield and Santa Barbara, pleaded guilty today to stealing $500,000 in COVID-19 relief money.

SAN DIEGO – Denny Bhakta of San Diego was arraigned in federal court today on additional charges that he fraudulently obtained $4 million in Paycheck Protection Program loans through several entities he managed and controlled. Bhakta was first indicted in December 2021 for defrauding investors in his companies; a grand jury returned a superseding indictment this week that includes additional charges.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Nigerian national Olamide Yusuf Bakare, 26, currently residing in Laurel, Maryland, was sentenced today to four years and nine months in prison for conspiracy to

A NASA-Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) employee has agreed to plead guilty to defrauding a government-sponsored loan program designed to help people and businesses survive the COVID-19 pandemic’s economic impact and has admitted that he used part of the proceeds to fund illegal marijuana cultivation, the Justice Department announced today.

SAN DIEGO – An indictment unsealed in federal court today charges Alexandra Crystal McFarland and Demetrius Montre McFarland, a married couple, with participating in a scheme to steal IRS stimulus payments during the COVID-19 pandemic from destitute and vulnerable victims and using the proceeds to purchase a luxury vehicle, jewelry and furniture.

SAN DIEGO – University City Dermatologist Mona Zohdi Mofid was sentenced in federal court today to two years’ probation after pleading guilty in April to misdemeanor hoarding of N95 respirator masks that had been designated scarce during the COVID-19 pandemic.

SAN DIEGO – Constantin Sandu of Romania pleaded guilty in federal court today, admitting that he masterminded a scheme to steal more than $5 million in California unemployment insurance benefits intended to help workers impacted by the pandemic.

A woman serving a life sentence in state prison for murder was sentenced today in federal court to 84 months in federal prison for leading a ring that fraudulently obtained more than $1.5 million in California unemployment insurance (UI) benefits – mostly pandemic-related relief – by using other people’s identities, some of which belonged to her fellow California prison inmates.

A West Los Angeles man was sentenced today to 79 months in federal prison for fraudulently obtaining approximately $9 million in COVID-19 business loans, some of which he used on gambling excursions to Las Vegas and transferred to his stock trading accounts.

A San Bernardino County woman was sentenced today to 30 months in federal prison for fraudulently obtaining more than $500,000 in pandemic-related unemployment insurance benefits by using the names of inmates locked up the California state prison system.

The Department of Justice today announced criminal charges against 18 defendants in nine federal districts across the United States for their alleged participation in various fraud schemes involving health care services that exploited the COVID-19 pandemic and allegedly resulted in over $490 million in COVID-19 related false billings to federal programs and theft from federally funded pandemic programs.

Three California companies have agreed to pay a total of $530,000 to settle allegations that they knowingly violated the False Claims Act when they received and retained more than one Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan prior to Dec. 31, 2020, in violation of PPP rules.

Four California agricultural companies and their owner have agreed to settle allegations that they violated the False Claims Act (FCA) and the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act (FIRREA) by knowingly submitting false information in support of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan applications. Mendota Land Co., Sweetwood Farm Co. LLC, Sweetwood Farm Inc., Seasholtz Co. LLC, and their owner John Seasholtz (collectively, “Seasholtz”) are alleged to have improperly inflated the employee headcount on the companies’ PPP loan applications by impermissibly including non...

A Beverly Hills father and son were sentenced today to federal prison terms for defrauding government programs designed to help businesses survive the economic shock of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A former United States Postal Service mail carrier was sentenced today to 41 months in federal prison for scheming to steal more than $250,000 in unemployment insurance (UI) funds by making false claims of COVID-related job losses and for stealing UI debit cards intended for other people on his mail route.

A downtown Los Angeles man was found guilty today by a jury of federal criminal charges for fraudulently obtaining more than $150,000 – and attempted to obtain an additional $1.85 million – in COVID-relief loans for several companies he claimed to own and operate.

The owner of several Inland Empire-based trucking companies was sentenced today to 120 months in federal prison for ordering the illegal repair of a tanker that resulted in an explosion and the death of one his employees – the second time one of his welders was killed.

A Riverside County man was sentenced today to 60 months in federal prison for using hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) for personal expenses such as luxury cars after he obtained a COVID-business relief loan for more than $7 million on behalf of his pothole-repair company.

A former Amtrak employee pleaded guilty today to federal criminal charges for conspiring with her husband to steal nearly $1 million in COVID-19 pandemic-related unemployment insurance (UI) benefits and for fraudulently obtaining more than $63,000 in sickness benefits while she worked at Amtrak.

The Department of Justice announced today new criminal charges, convictions, and sentences as part of its ongoing initiative to prosecute fraud in connection with various pandemic relief programs under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, including the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program, as well as other crimes relating to the COVID-19 pandemic.

An Orange County man was sentenced today to 48 months in federal prison for fraudulently obtaining more than $5 million in COVID-relief loans for three shell companies.

A Beverly Hills man – whose sons pleaded guilty earlier this month to felonies for defrauding COVID-relief programs – pleaded guilty today to a federal criminal charge for fraudulently seeking more than $6.7 million in COVID-related small business loans for more than half a dozen fake companies.

A San Bernardino County woman was arrested today on a seven-count federal grand jury indictment alleging she fraudulently obtained more than $500,000 in pandemic-related unemployment insurance (UI) benefits by using the names of inmates locked up the California state prison system.

A federal jury convicted the president of a Silicon Valley-based medical technology company today of participating in a scheme to mislead investors, commit health care fraud, and pay illegal kickbacks in connection with the submission of over $77 million in false and fraudulent claims for COVID-19 and allergy testing.

A California man was sentenced Friday to eight months in custody for the importation, shipping and sale of illegally imported pesticides that were falsely advertised as products that could protect the user “from airborne infectious diseases.”

A Corona man pleaded guilty today to federal criminal charges in connection with a scheme to submit false loan applications that brought him more than $6.6 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) funds.

A San Fernando Valley certified public accountant pleaded guilty today to a federal criminal charge for helping a long-time client fraudulently obtain a $1.2 million COVID-19 business loan by knowingly preparing a false corporate tax return on the client’s behalf.

A former United States Postal Service (USPS) mail carrier pleaded guilty today to federal criminal charges for scheming to steal more than $250,000 in unemployment insurance (UI) funds by making false claims of COVID-related job losses and for stealing UI debit cards intended for other people on his mail route.

Law enforcement today arrested six defendants charged in a federal grand jury indictment alleging they fraudulently obtained more than $2 million in COVID-19-related unemployment insurance (UI) benefits by submitting fraudulent applications in the names of others that falsely asserted, among other things, that the claimants were salon and barbershop workers rendered jobless because of the pandemic.

A rapper who boasted in a YouTube music video about getting rich by committing pandemic-related unemployment benefits fraud has agreed to plead guilty to federal fraud and firearms charges, the Justice Department announced today.

An Orange County man has agreed to plead guilty to federal criminal charges that he fraudulently obtained more than $5 million in COVID-relief loans for three sham companies.

Federal authorities this morning arrested a United States Postal Service (USPS) mail carrier and a Santa Clarita Valley man for allegedly scheming to steal approximately $800,000 in unemployment insurance (UI) funds by using false claims of COVID-related job losses and stealing UI debit cards from the U.S. mail.

An Orange County man was sentenced today to 30 months in federal prison for fraudulently obtaining more than $1.5 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) COVID-relief loans that he used for personal expenses and stock market trading.

A Santa Clarita man was sentenced today to 41 months in federal prison for attempting to steal millions of dollars in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) COVID-relief loans for his companies by submitting fraudulent applications that included fake tax documents and information for non-existent employees.

A Riverside County man who purported to own a pothole-repair company was found guilty by a federal jury today of fraud charges for using hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) for personal expenses such as luxury cars after he obtained a PPP loan for more than $7 million on behalf of his business.

A federal jury convicted a California man today of misappropriating hundreds of thousands of dollars in forgivable Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

A California-licensed naturopathic doctor pleaded guilty today in the Northern District of California for scheming to sell homeoprophylaxis immunization pellets and for falsifying COVID-19 vaccination cards by making it appear that customers had received the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-authorized Moderna vaccine.