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A Riverside County woman who participated in a scheme that used stolen identities to fraudulently apply for just over $2.8 million in unemployment insurance (UI) benefits from the California Employment Development Department (EDD) has been sentenced to 41 months in federal prison.

U.S. District Judge Terence C. Kern sentenced Lauren Michelle Owen, 40, of Jenks, to 27 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release. In January, Owen pleaded guilty to bank fraud, wire fraud, and tax evasion. Judge Kern further ordered Owen to pay more than $1.2 million in restitution.

NEWARK N.J. – A Sussex County, New Jersey, man was sentenced to 36 months in prison for defrauding several financial institutions and illegally obtaining more than $2 million in COVID-19 funding meant to help small businesses impacted by the pandemic.

A federal jury in Boise, Idaho, convicted a Georgia woman today for fraudulently obtaining and misusing a $338,958 Paycheck Protection Program loan that the Small Business Administration (SBA) guaranteed under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

NEWARK N.J. – A Sussex County, New Jersey, man was sentenced to 36 months in prison for defrauding several financial institutions and illegally obtaining more than $2 million in COVID-19 funding meant to help small businesses impacted by the pandemic.

NEWARK, N.J. – An owner of several New Jersey businesses was charged with fraudulently obtaining over $3.2 million in federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans.

Jackson, Miss. – A Texas man pleaded guilty to illegally obtaining more than $400,000 in COVID-19 economic assistance loans.

TRENTON, N.J. – A Pennsylvania man admitted to his role in a scheme to fraudulently obtain over $4.8 million in federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) for himself and others.

NEWARK, N.J. – An owner of several New Jersey businesses was charged with fraudulently obtaining over $3.2 million in federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans.

On Nov. 1, a Miami federal grand jury charged three Miami residents for their alleged role in a COVID-19 relief fraud scheme.

A former bank branch manager in Kansas City, Mo., has pleaded guilty in federal court to accepting Kansas City Chiefs playoffs tickets and a new Chevrolet Tahoe in exchange for facilitating a $12.4 million Covid fraud scheme by a Jefferson City, Mo., business owner, as well as a separate fraud scheme to receive unemployment benefits.

A former bank branch manager in Kansas City, Mo., has pleaded guilty in federal court to accepting Kansas City Chiefs playoffs tickets and a new Chevrolet Tahoe in exchange for facilitating a $12.4 million Covid fraud scheme by a Jefferson City, Mo., business owner, as well as a separate fraud scheme to receive unemployment benefits.

Three Tulsa-area residents who fraudulently applied for Paycheck Protection Program loans were sentenced last week in federal court, announced U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson.

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.

Brittish Williams admitted committing $564,000 worth of frauds including tax fraud, bank fraud, insurance fraud and three separate pandemic fraud schemes.

Fort Myers, Florida – U.S. District Judge Thomas P. Barber has sentenced Denis Casseus (44, Cape Coral) to two years in federal prison for bank fraud and an illegal monetary transaction. As part of his sentence, the court also entered an order of forfeiture in the amount of $298,875, the proceeds of the bank fraud. Casseus had pleaded guilty on May 23, 2023.

A convicted felon from Orange County who used social media to instruct his Instagram followers on how to defraud banks was sentenced today to 90 months in federal prison for conspiring with a bank employee and others to commit a check fraud scheme in which they sought $1.2 million.

CINCINNATI– A man who filed for relief under the Paycheck Protection Program and fraudulently claimed that he was running a business during the time he was incarcerated was sentenced in U.S. District Court today to 12 months and one day in prison.

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.

U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross announced today that Michael Rech, 52, of North Chili, NY, who was convicted at trial of 37 counts of bank fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering, was sentenced to serve 57 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Charles J. Siragusa.

Mark X. Haley II, 43, was sentenced to 18 months in prison for a bank fraud scheme in which he filed fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan applications and received over $1M in fraud proceeds. He was also ordered to pay $1,010,581 in restitution.

An Atlanta-area man has been sentenced to federal prison and ordered to pay nearly $300,000 in restitution after pleading guilty to siphoning money from a private individual’s bank account.

A San Fernando Valley man who was the leader of a conspiracy that stole more than $800,000 in COVID-19 jobless benefits has been sentenced to over eight years in federal prison.

Trashunda M. Harrison submitted a total of nine fraudulent applications for Paycheck Protection program loans.

U.S. District Judge Theodore D. Chuang sentenced Dion Rashaan Foxworth, age 42, of Washington, D.C., to 51 months in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for wire fraud related to an investment fraud scheme and bank fraud related to a fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) loan. Judge Chuang also ordered Foxworth to pay restitution of $882,908.66.

U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross announced today that two brothers, Larry Jordan, 45, of Lancaster, NY, and Sutukh El a/k/a Curtis Jordan a/k/a Hugo Hurt a/k/a Hugo Hermes Hurtington, 41, of Buffalo, NY, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge John L. Sinatra, Jr. to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and wire fraud for their participation in a scheme to file fraudulent loan applications seeking forgivable Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The charge carries a maximum...

BOSTON – A Stoughton man was sentenced today in federal court in Boston in connection with a fraudulent scheme to obtain COVID-19-related small business loans from several financial institutions.

LAS VEGAS – A Nevada woman pleaded guilty Monday to fraudulently seeking over $1 million in COVID-19 Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans.

BOSTON – A Methuen man was sentenced today in federal court in Boston for using stolen identities to fraudulently obtain Economic Injury Disaster Loan funds from the Small Business Administration (SBA) and laundering the funds.

A Lubbock man who defrauded pandemic-era financial programs out nearly $4 million was sentenced today to 15 years in federal prison.

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

Nikia A. French recruited people on Instagram who were willing to let French use their bank accounts for a bad check scheme.

NASHVILLE – John Paul Dillon, 40, of Franklin, Tennessee pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court to fraud in connection with COVID-19 relief programs, mortgage fraud, and money

Naquan Powers admitted involvement in the fraudulent purchase of vehicles, a credit card scam and fraud involving two pandemic relief programs.

BOSTON – An Acton was sentenced today in federal court in Boston for conspiring to use stolen identities to fraudulently obtain disaster loan funds from the Small Business Administration (SBA) and to launder the funds.

SAN DIEGO – Denny Bhakta of San Diego was arraigned in federal court today on additional charges that he fraudulently obtained $4 million in Paycheck Protection Program loans through several entities he managed and controlled. Bhakta was first indicted in December 2021 for defrauding investors in his companies; a grand jury returned a superseding indictment this week that includes additional charges.

PEORIA, Ill. – A Saint Augustine, Illinois man, Michael Lewis Patch, 66, of the 100 block of West Third Street, has been sentenced to 90 days in the Bureau of Prisons, five years of Supervised Release, and to pay more than $64,000 in restitution.

A federal grand jury has returned an indictment charging David Epstein, age 45, of Owings Mills, Maryland, for wire fraud and money laundering, relating to the submission of fraudulent COVID-19 CARES Act loan applications. 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 filed on June 24, 2023, and unsealed today at Epstein’s initial appearance.

A federal jury in the Southern District of Ohio today convicted Kelli Prather, 51, of Cincinnati of crimes pertaining to her request for more than $1.2 million in pandemic relief loans. She was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals after the jury returned its guilty verdicts.

Charles Carbon III fraudulently received an Economic Injury Disaster Loan, a Paycheck Protection Program loan and unemployment benefits.

Three people admitted participating in bank fraud, a scheme to defraud a pandemic loan program, or both.

COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA — A federal grand jury has returned a 51-count indictment against nine current or former inmates in the South Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDC) and

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.

ALBANY, NEW YORK – Deborah Budhraj, age 52, and her husband Adesh Budhraj, age 53, of Ballston Lake, New York, pled guilty today to conspiring with each other

Fort Myers, Florida –United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces the return by a grand jury of an indictment charging Timothy Craig Jolloff (46, Fort Myers) and Lisa Ann Jolloff (56, Fort Myers) with wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and illegal monetary transactions. Timothy Jolloff is also charged with multiple counts of bank fraud. The chart below summarizes the indictment charges and maximum penalties as to each defendant.

BOSTON – A Lawrence man pleaded guilty today in federal court in Boston to using stolen identities to fraudulently obtain over $450,000 in Economic Injury Disaster Loan funds from the Small Business Administration (SBA) and to launder the funds.

MIAMI – A Miami federal grand jury has charged Anthony Faustin , 28 , of Homestead, Florida, with conspiracy, wire and bank fraud, and access device and aggravated