Reports

Ocala, Florida – United States Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe announces the return of an indictment charging Frank Adriel Romero Leandro (34, Ocala) with wire fraud and price gouging. If convicted, Romero faces up to 20 years in federal prison for the wire fraud offense and up to 1 year in federal prison for the price gouging offense. The indictment also notifies Romero that the United States intends to forfeit $1,234,360.46, which are funds that are alleged to be traceable as proceeds of the offenses.

We performed this review to determine the extent to which State Education Agencies (SEAs) and local educational agencies (LEAs) use digital wallets to facilitate the administration of U.S. Department of Education (Department) grant funds. Our review covered the period from October 1, 2022, through December 31, 2024. Forty-five SEAs responded to our survey regarding the use of digital wallets to facilitate the administration of Department grant funds. Twelve of those SEAs reported using digital wallets to help administer some of their Department grants during our review period, and three of...

DENVER – The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado announces that Richard Nieto, age 39, of Morrison, Colorado, was sentenced to 46 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $962,438.85 in restitution for engaging in wire fraud and money laundering in connection with obtaining two Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A former politician who served on the Orange County Board of Supervisors was sentenced today to 60 months in federal prison for accepting more than $550,000 in bribes for directing and voting in favor of more than $10 million in COVID-19 pandemic relief funds to a charity affiliated with one of his daughters.

The founder of a now-shuttered non-profit organization has been indicted on federal charges alleging he bribed then-Orange County Supervisor Andrew Hoang Do to obtain approximately $12 million in COVID-19 pandemic-related funds, pocketed the bulk of that money, then laundered it to avoid detection by law enforcement, the Justice Department announced today.

A Pennsylvania Small Business Investment Company (SBIC), its affiliate, and one of its portfolio companies have entered into a settlement agreement with the United States resolving allegations that the portfolio company violated the False Claims Act by taking a loan from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) to which the company was not entitled.

DENVER – The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado announces that William Chadwick, 62, of Akron, Colorado, pleaded guilty yesterday to one count of Money Laundering and agreed to repay the fraudulent proceeds he laundered from COVID-19 relief programs.