Reports

NEW ORLEANS – U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that TAMIKA CHAPPELL (“CHAPPELL”), age 40, of New Orleans, was sentenced on August 29, 2024 to five (5) years of probation by U.S. District Court Judge Carl J. Barbier after previously pleading guilty to making false statements related to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), making false statements to the IRS, and theft of government funds.

CAMDEN, N.J. – Three New Jersey residents were indicted for their role in a multimillion-dollar mortgage fraud scheme and two of the three were indicted for fraudulently obtaining approximately $3 million of federal Economic Injury Disaster Loans.

Christopher Carroll fraudulently obtained nearly $3 million in pandemic relief loans, evidence and testimony at trial showed.

Baltimore, Maryland – Joseph Gillespie, age 35, of Baltimore City, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to commit wire fraud involving a scheme to defraud a financial institution and the United States Small Business Administration in order to obtain fraudulent loans under the Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loan program for various purported businesses. The Defendant also admitted to engaging in a bribery scheme for over eight years, whereby, in exchange for bribes from various property owners in Baltimore City (the “City”), the Defendant would use his official...

SAN DIEGO – Andre Shammas, owner of Shammas Funding Inc., pleaded guilty in federal court today to fraud charges, admitting that he submitted bogus applications for more than $5 million in pandemic-related loans intended to help struggling businesses during the pandemic.

A Culver City man and restauranteur who owns a hospitality company that has developed restaurants and hotels in California, Tennessee, and Kentucky pleaded guilty today to fraudulently obtaining more than $4 million COVID-19 economic-relief loans.

Greenbelt, Maryland – On Tuesday, August 27, 2024, the Honorable Deborah L. Boardman sentenced Rudolph Brooks, age 48, of Cheltenham, Maryland, to 18 months in federal prison followed by 2 years of supervised release for fraudulently obtaining over $3.5 million in COVID-19 Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act Payroll Protection Program (PPP) loans. The Court also ordered Brooks to forfeit all property and assets derived from or obtained as a result of his criminal activity, including a 2018 Tesla Model 3, property located in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, and at least $2,231...

SAN DIEGO – David Constantin, mastermind of a scheme to steal more than $5 million in California unemployment benefits intended to help workers affected by the pandemic, was sentenced in federal court today to five years in prison and was ordered to pay $ $5,178,276 in restitution to the state.