Reports

BOSTON – A former corrections officer employed by the Suffolk County Sherriff’s Department pleaded guilty today to 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).

Two New Jersey residents admitted participating in a multimillion dollar mortgage fraud scheme and one of the individuals also admitted fraudulently obtaining more than $1.8 million of federal Economic Injury Disaster Loans.

A co-founder of a lender service provider was sentenced to 10 years in prison for participating in a scheme to fraudulently obtain over $63 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans guaranteed by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief , and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The defendant was also ordered to pay over $63 million in restitution.

NEW ORLEANS – Acting U.S. Attorney Michael M. Simpson announced that ERNEST X. TAYLOR, JR. (“ TAYLOR”), of Laplace, LA, age 41, was sentenced on October 29, 2025 to 84 months in the Bureau of Prisons, after previously pleading guilty to two counts of making false statements related to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), by U.S. District Judge Darrel James Papillion.

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – Acting United States Attorney Michael M. Simpson announced today that on November 19, 2025 REHA JANEE ARVIE, ( “ARVIE”), age 35, of Westwego, LA, was sentenced for Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1349.

The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon filed a civil forfeiture complaint today against two properties located in Provo, Utah, purchased as part of an alleged multi-layered scheme to defraud the United States and a nonprofit organization.

Orlando, Florida – United States Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe announces that a federal jury found Shawn Michael Simmerer (49, Florida) and Seth Downes (30, Michigan) guilty of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud in connection with a scheme to defraud the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”). Simmerer was also found guilty of four counts of submitting false claims to the IRS, related to fraudulent Employee Retention Credits and Sick and Family Leave Credits. Simmerer and Downes face a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison on each wire fraud count, and Simmerer faces a maximum...