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Seattle – The final defendant of a six-defendant fraud scheme that submitted fraudulent applications seeking more than $6.8 million in COVID benefits was convicted late yesterday in U.S. District Court in Seattle, announced First Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd.

Orlando, FL – Emmet Bowens (57, Apopka) has been sentenced by U.S. District Judge Dalton to 63 months in federal prison for wire fraud and money laundering. As part of his sentence, the court also entered an order of forfeiture in the amount of $739,582, the proceeds of the offenses. Bowens pleaded guilty on January 26, 2026.

Two brothers, and a public official they befriended, have been sentenced to prison for their roles to carry out schemes to obtain millions of dollars from victims. A federal jury previously convicted the three men for their roles in a multi-layered, elaborate bribery and fraud conspiracy that spanned multiple states and countries.

The indictment accuses the conspirators of submitting at least 40 fraudulent applications for Paycheck Protection Program loans and Economic Injury Disaster Loans that yielded at least $8.3 million.

Ten individuals face federal charges stemming from a fraud and money laundering operation that targeted government loan programs offered by the U.S. Small Business Administration, including the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program and Paycheck Protection Program. In addition, two of the defendants were charged with laundering the proceeds of a fraudulent unemployment insurance scheme.