Reports

VICTORIA KATES, 34, of New Britain, waived her right to be indicted and pleaded guilty yesterday before U.S. District Judge Sarala V. Nagala in Hartford to offenses related to her fraudulent receipt of COVID-19 relief funds.

SAN DIEGO – Regina Brice, a former employee of the California Employment Development Department, was sentenced in federal court today to 66 months in prison for using her position to file $858,339 in fraudulent unemployment claims, effectively stealing money that was intended to give economic relief to people impacted by the pandemic.

LAS VEGAS – A Las Vegas woman pleaded guilty yesterday to carrying out a scheme to fraudulently obtain more than $137,000 from the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Program (PUA), the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program (EIDL).

A Houston, Texas, woman was sentenced in federal court today for fraudulently receiving more than $800,000 in Missouri and Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act unemployment benefits using the identity information of numerous other persons.

BOSTON – Two corrections officers employed by the Suffolk County Sherriff’s Department were arrested today for allegedly submitting fraudulent information in an effort to obtain loans through CARES Act programs like the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program and the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).

A Houston, Texas, woman has pleaded guilty in federal court to fraudulently receiving Missouri and Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act unemployment benefits using the identity information of numerous other persons.

OLAJUWON HARRINGTON, also known as “OJ Harrington,” 31, of Waterbury, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Omar A. Williams in Hartford to 48 months of imprisonment, followed by two years of supervised release, for his theft of pandemic unemployment benefits.

A St. Joseph, Mo., woman was sentenced in federal court today for using the stolen identities of prison inmates to fraudulently obtain federal unemployment benefits under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

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 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.

NEWARK, N.J. – A Union County, New Jersey, man was sentenced today to 42 months in prison for disaster benefits fraud, business impersonation fraud, COVID-19 loan fraud, and Treasury check fraud.

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.

Recognized as a leader in pandemic relief fraud prosecutions, the Southern District of Florida’s U.S. Attorney’s Office has been selected to head one of three COVID-19 Fraud Strike Force Teams nationally.

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 grand jury has returned an indictment charging nine defendants in relation to a Maryland and California CARES Act COVID-19 unemployment insurance scheme. The indictment charges the defendants with wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and theft of United States Postal Office arrow keys. The indictment was returned on June 21, 2022, and unsealed upon the defendants’ self-surrenders and arrests.

Tampa, Florida –United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces that Melinda Sue Hernandez (33, Ruskin) has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. Hernandez faces a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison for the conspiracy count, as well as a consecutive two years in federal prison for the aggravated identity theft count.

Tacoma – A 45-year-old resident of Lekki, Nigeria, pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft for using stolen identities to claim hundreds of thousands of dollars in pandemic-related unemployment benefits, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown.

A Lakewood man pleaded guilty today to a federal criminal charge for threatening to bomb Small Business Administration (SBA) offices and then, the following year, threatening to assault SBA employees in response to his inability to obtain COVID-19 emergency business loans.

Today Maryland United States Attorney Erek L. Barron announced that the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland has entered into a memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with Special Inspector General Brian D. Miller of the Special Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery (SIGPR) and Deputy Inspector General James D. Powell of the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General (DOL-OIG), Office of Investigations, regarding the investigation and prosecution of fraud relating to The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act funding. The CARES Act was designed to...

A Florida man pleaded guilty today in the Southern District of Florida to a $6.9 million conspiracy to defraud Medicare by paying kickbacks and bribes to obtain doctors’ orders for medically unnecessary lab tests that were then billed to Medicare. The defendant exploited the COVID-19 pandemic by bundling COVID-19 testing with other forms of testing that patients did not need, including genetic testing and tests for rare respiratory pathogens.

BOSTON – A Charlestown man who has been living under a false identity pleaded guilty today in federal court in Boston to charges arising from his use of the name and Social Security number of a U.S. citizen.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – A Rhode Island man today pled guilty to his role in a conspiracy to file fraudulent applications for COVID unemployment relief funds in at least eight states, announced United States Attorney Zachary A. Cunha.

A federal court in Florida permanently enjoined on Friday three residents of Vietnam from operating a pandemic-related scam that targeted American consumers, the Department of Justice announced.

BOSTON – A Dominican National residing in Boston was arrested today for allegedly using others’ identities to fraudulently obtain Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) benefits.

BOSTON – A New Jersey man pleaded guilty today in connection with his involvement in a scheme to fraudulently obtain COVID-19-related unemployment assistance.

BOSTON – A New Jersey man was arrested today in connection with his alleged involvement in a scheme to fraudulently obtain COVID-19-related unemployment assistance.

U.S. District Judge Ellen L. Hollander today sentenced Robert Lee Snowden Jr., age 45, of Owings Mills, Maryland, to 78 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and for aggravated identity theft, in connection with a series of fraud schemes perpetrated between 2013 and 2020. Additionally, Judge Hollander ordered that Snowden pay restitution of $1,021,583.72.