Reports

BOSTON – A West Roxbury man pleaded guilty on May 15, 2024 in federal court in Boston to a fraud charge in connection with a scheme to fraudulently obtain pandemic-related relief funds from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).

Earlier today, in federal court in Brooklyn, a superseding indictment was partially unsealed variously charging seven members of the Brooklyn-based Hyena Crips gang with racketeering and using a firearm in the course of a murder in connection with three murders, murder conspiracies, robberies and identity-fraud schemes dating back to 2012.

TRENTON, N.J. – A Middlesex County, New Jersey, woman was sentenced to 24 months in prison for conspiring to illegally obtain over $400,000 in COVID-19 unemployment benefits.

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.

CAMDEN, N.J. – Three individuals were indicted for their roles in fraudulently obtaining approximately $5 million of federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans and Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) and for laundering the loan proceeds.

BOSTON – The owner of Stash’s Pizza, who is currently facing alleged federal forced labor charges, has been indicted by a grand jury in Boston for allegedly submitting false information to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) to obtain a loan on behalf of a business he no longer owned.

An Irving man was sentenced today to seven years in prison for his role in a $7 million COVID-19 testing fraud.

BOSTON – A Haverhill man was arrested and charged today in connection with a Massachusetts Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) claim he filed in 2020 for a man who was living in Brazil and who has since been charged with migrant smuggling, among other offenses.

NEWARK, N.J. – A Florida man was sentenced today to 42 months in prison for illegally obtaining more than $1.5 million in government benefits.

BOSTON – A Massachusetts businesswoman pleaded guilty today to submitting fraudulent loan applications seeking COVID-19 relief.

Tacoma – A 45-year-old Nigerian citizen who defrauded U.S. COVID relief programs from his home in Canada, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to 42 months in prison for wire fraud and aggravated identity theft announced U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman.

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.

Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that TATIANA DANIEL was sentenced today to 33 months in prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

CINCINNATI – A Cincinnati man was sentenced in U.S. District Court to 18 months in prison for committing wire fraud as part of a scheme to fraudulently obtain a Covid relief loan.

A Richmond man was sentenced yesterday to seven years in prison for orchestrating successive schemes to defraud a COVID-19 relief program and steal funds through altered checks.

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – A California resident pleaded guilty today to aiding and abetting wire fraud, which led to defrauding the federal government of approximately $114,066 in unemployment benefits during COVID-19, while he was living and working in Utah. He also admitted to aiding and abetting others to fraudulently apply and pay him as compensation.

SAN DIEGO – David Constantin, alleged mastermind of a scheme to steal more than $5 million in California unemployment benefits intended to help workers affected by the pandemic, appeared in federal court today following his extradition Monday to the United States from Romania.

Nnamdi Iheanacho has been indicted on federal charges of wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, money laundering conspiracy, and concealment money laundering for stealing COVID-19 relief funds and federal tax refunds based on fraud and identity theft.

SAN DIEGO –Eduard Buse and Florentina Sima pleaded guilty in federal court today to fraud and money laundering charges, admitting they participated in a scheme to steal more than $5 million in California unemployment benefits intended to help workers affected by the pandemic.

BOSTON – A Plymouth, Mass. man pleaded guilty today to his involvement in a COVID-19 relief fund fraud scheme.

BOSTON – Over 40 members and associates of the Heath Street Gang in Boston were charged today in federal court in Boston with racketeering conspiracy; drug trafficking; firearms; wire fraud; and financial frauds, including COVID fraud, following a two-year investigation into gang violence in Boston.

Kaymeisha Keyes, 32, most recently of Tracy, pleaded guilty today to one count of wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft.

A New York man was sentenced yesterday to 42 months in prison for his role in a fraudulent scheme to obtain pandemic benefits using the stolen identities of at least 20 other people.

Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that CHANETTE LEWIS was sentenced today to three years in prison for her role in two fraud schemes.

Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that YOHAURIS RODRIGUEZ HERNANDEZ was sentenced to 79 months in prison in connection with her participation in a fraudulent scheme to obtain over $16 million in Government benefits intended to provide relief to individuals without employment during the COVID-19 pandemic.

James McAuliffe filed false claims for UI benefits using others’ personal identifying information without their knowledge and consent. He was sentenced to.60 months and ordered to pay $203,616 in restitution.

NEWARK N.J. – A New York man was indicted today for conspiring to illegally obtain over $444,000 in COVID-19 unemployment benefits.

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.

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – An indictment was unsealed after a California man was arrested and is scheduled to appear in a Salt Lake City federal courthouse. The eight count indictment charges the defendant for unlawfully collecting unemployment insurance during COVID-19 from California while living and working in Utah. He also allegedly assisted others in committing the same acts for a cut of their unemployment insurance funds administered under the CARES Act.

Tacoma – One of two Nigerian citizens who resided in Canada, pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft for defrauding pandemic unemployment benefit programs in multiple states, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman.

A federal grand jury returned an indictment charging six individuals for conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft, relating to the submission of fraudulent CARES Act unemployment insurance (“UI”) claims. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act was a federal law enacted in March 2020 to provide emergency financial assistance to Americans suffering from the economic effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The indictment was returned on October 24, 2023, and unsealed today upon the arrests of several defendants.

Austin Martin Siampwizi, who laundered money procured from fraudulent unemployment claims filed during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, has pleaded guilty to a charge of money laundering conspiracy.

NEWARK, N.J. – A Maryland man was sentenced today to 41 months in prison for illegally obtaining more than $2 million in COVID-19 relief funds.

Terence Aubrey Larker, 37, of Las Vegas, previously of Sacramento, was sentenced Tuesday to four years and 10 months in prison for mail fraud and aggravated identity theft in a scheme to defraud the Unemployment Insurance benefit program during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ronald House, who applied for unemployment insurance in his name and the names of others in multiple states during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, has pleaded guilty to a wire fraud charge.

Jeremy Graves has been sentenced for theft of government funds and aggravated identity theft for stealing identities to file fraudulent Unemployment Insurance (“UI”) claims during the COVID-19 pandemic.

SAN DIEGO – Eduard Ghiocel and his wife, Floarea Ghiocel, were sentenced in federal court today to 36 months and 30 months, respectively, for laundering $1.4 million in proceeds from dozens of grand thefts, robberies and swindles targeting mostly elderly victims in San Diego County.

NEWARK N.J. – A Middlesex County, New Jersey, man admitted that he conspired to illegally obtain over $400,000 in COVID-19 unemployment benefits.

NEWARK N.J. – A Middlesex County, New Jersey, man admitted that he conspired to illegally obtain over $400,000 in COVID-19 unemployment benefits.

BOSTON – Former Massachusetts State Senator Dean Tran was arrested today and charged in federal court in Boston with allegedly scheming to defraud the Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Assistance and collecting income that he failed to report to the IRS.

NEWARK N.J. – A Middlesex County, New Jersey, woman was arrested on charges that she fraudulently obtained Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) and Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funds and unemployment insurance benefits totaling $694,212.

Michael Akame Ngwese Ay Makoge, a/k/a “Hype” and “2Hype”, age 28, of Laurel, Maryland pleaded guilty yesterday to a wire fraud conspiracy and to aggravated identity theft, in relation to a Maryland and California unemployment insurance scheme totaling more than $1.5 million.

Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and James Smith, the Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), announced the unsealing of an Indictment today charging DOUGLAS RAYMOND ARNTSEN with masterminding a fraudulent scheme to obtain more than $1.3 million in government-funded loans designed to provide relief to small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Andy Steven Johnson, a correctional officer and member of the Special Investigative Services team at the United States Penitentiary in Atlanta, pleaded guilty to stealing money from an inmate’s CashApp account and also using a business that did not exist to fraudulently apply for a Paycheck Protection Program loan.

NEWARK, N.J. – A Passaic County, New Jersey, attorney today admitted that he illegally obtained more than $300,000 in COVID-19 relief funds.

BOSTON – Two Nigerian men were sentenced today in federal court in Boston for their roles in an expansive money laundering and bank fraud scheme that resulted in millions in losses from pandemic fraud, romance scams and other online scams.

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.

Tampa, FL – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces the results achieved by the Middle District of Florida’s efforts to combat fraud related to COVID-19. Those efforts have included complementary actions by the United States Attorney’s Office’s (USAO-MDFL) Criminal, Asset Recovery, Appellate, and Civil Divisions, along with federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies.

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.

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,

ROBERT CARTER engaged in a scheme to fraudulently obtain more than $1 million in unemployment insurance funds during the Covid-19 pandemic.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Alexander M.M. Uballez, United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico, Albert Childress, Special Agent in Charge, IRS Criminal Investigation, and Francisco B. Burrola, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations El Paso, announced today that Jacqueline Rascon-Chacon, Bryan Gardea, and Ricardo Landeros were indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of bank fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from specified unlawful activity.

A federal grand jury has returned a superseding indictment charging Michael Cooley, Jr., a/k/a “Micheal Cooley Jr.,” “5Micmusik,” and “Michael White,” age 24, and Isiah Lewis, a/k/a “Zay,” age 33, both of Maryland; and “Alonzo Brown, age 26, of Virginia, for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, relating to the submission of fraudulent claims for unemployment insurance (“UI”) benefits under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act, enacted to provide emergency financial assistance to Americans suffering from the economic effects caused by the...

NEW ORLEANS – U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that TEMIKA SANTEMORE, age 43, a resident of Houston, Texas, pleaded guilty on September 12, 2023 before U.S. District Judge Jay C. Zainey to a two-count bill of information charging her with making false statements and theft of government funds related to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act).

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – A federal grand jury has returned indictments against 19 United States Postal Service employees and former employees, charging them with fraud related to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP)

BOSTON – A Miami woman was sentenced today in federal court in Boston for fraudulently obtaining over $1 million in pandemic-related loans using the stolen identities of more than 10 individuals and then using those funds for personal expenses, including chartering a private jet and renting a luxury apartment.

As part of a coordinated nationwide effort to fight COVID-19 fraud, the Southern District of Georgia has taken action against individuals who illegally obtained nearly $11 million in funds intended to help struggling small businesses during the global pandemic.

HONOLULU – On September 5, 2023, Oseola Vakameilalo, was arraigned in federal court and pled not guilty to all 12 charges in an indictment relating to fraud in connection with the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) unemployment insurance program.

Erek L. Barron, the United States Attorney for Maryland, announced that the U.S. Attorney’s Office continues to prioritize the investigation and prosecution of fraud, waste and abuse relating to pandemic relief enacted by Congress, including fraud involving the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act. The CARES Act was designed to provide emergency financial assistance to Americans suffering the economic effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland previously selected the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office to help lead the U.S. Justice...

James McAuliffe, 55, pleaded guilty to six counts of wire fraud and six counts of aggravated identity theft.

CINCINNATI – A Cincinnati man is charged with wire fraud as part of a scheme to fraudulently obtain a Covid relief loan.

A Concord, California, woman was sentenced today to 18 years in prison for her leading role in a conspiracy to defraud at least five states of more than $3.5 million in pandemic-related unemployment insurance benefits.

A Freeman man had his initial appearance today on charges of wire fraud, filing a false tax return, tax evasion, and making false statements to a financial institution.

Seattle – One of two Nigerian citizens residing in Canada, who allegedly defrauded the pandemic unemployment benefit programs in multiple states, will make his initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Seattle this afternoon at 2:00 PM.

ST. PAUL, Minn. – A Bloomington woman was sentenced to 90 months in prison, three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $4.7 million in restitution for

Austin Martin Siampwizi has been arraigned on federal charges of concealment money laundering, money laundering conspiracy, and wire fraud.

BOSTON – A Rhode Island man was sentenced today in federal court in Boston for his involvement in a fraudulent scheme to obtain and misuse COVID-19-related unemployment assistance.

BOSTON – A Dudley man was sentenced today in federal court in Boston for his involvement in a fraudulent scheme to obtain and misuse COVID-19-related unemployment assistance.

DETROIT - Eleven residents of southeast Michigan have been charged in a 23-count indictment for their alleged role in a multi-million-dollar unemployment insurance fraud scheme targeting funds set

LAS VEGAS – A Stockton, California, resident was sentenced today by United States District Judge Gloria M. Navarro to 27 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for fraudulently using unemployment insurance benefits debit cards in other peoples’ names without their authorization to withdraw thousands of dollars.LAS VEGAS – A Stockton, California, resident was sentenced today by United States District Judge Gloria M. Navarro to 27 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for fraudulently using unemployment insurance benefits debit cards in other...

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

ALBANY, NEW YORK – Todd Ward a/k/a “Fats,” age 44, of Troy, New York; Christopher Ward a/k/a “Reek,” age 45, of Troy; Rocco Resciniti a/k/a “Rock,” age 49

BOSTON – A Brockton man has been sentenced in federal court in Boston for using others’ identities to fraudulently obtain over $60,000 in Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) Benefits and for using one of those identities to fraudulently obtain a Massachusetts driver’s license.

CAMDEN, N.J. – Five individuals were charged for their roles in fraudulently obtaining federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans and Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) and for laundering the loan proceeds; two other individuals pleaded guilty to fraudulently obtaining PPP and EIDL loans.

A Virginia Beach woman pleaded guilty today to fraudulently obtaining unemployment insurance (UI) benefits using personal identifiable information (PII) belonging to both Virginia Department of Corrections inmates and unwitting victims from the Norfolk area and out of state.

A Tipp City, Ohio man was sentenced in U.S. District Court today to 18 months in prison for defrauding a Dayton non-profit organization of rental assistance funds.