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Greenbelt, Maryland – A former U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) employee received a federal-prison term for a Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act scheme that enabled him to illegally obtain more than $176,000 in COVID-19 pandemic relief funds. U.S. District Judge Theodore D. Chuang sentenced Simeon Bakare, 56, of Waldorf, Maryland, to six months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, including two months of home detention, for a wire-fraud charge in connection with the scheme.

Fort Myers, Florida – Thakur Sukhdeo (40, Lehigh Acres) has pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud and two counts of illegal monetary transactions related to COVID relief. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison for each wire fraud count, and up to 10 years’ imprisonment for each illegal monetary transaction count. Sukhdeo has also agreed to forfeit $413,900, which are the proceeds of the criminal offense. U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe made the announcement.

A New Jersey man who obtained more than $2.1 million in fraudulent COVID-19 relief funds was sentenced on October 28, 2026 to 78 months in prison, three years’ supervised release, and ordered to pay $2,131,747 in restitution.

A federal grand jury returned a 10-count indictment against a North Texas resident for allegedly defrauding pandemic relief programs of more than $680,000. April Watson, 50, also known as “April Watson Horton” and “April Shawnette Watson,” is charged with four counts of wire fraud, two counts of bank fraud and four counts of engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from specified unlawful activity (money laundering).

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – AMANDA CLAYBORNE-WILLIAMS (“CLAYBORNE-WILLIAMS”), age 45, was sentenced on October 20, 2026 by U.S. District Judge Jay C. Zainey, after previously pleading guilty to wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343, and tax evasion, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 7201, announced U.S. Attorney David I. Courcelle.

U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo announced today that Timothy Wadsworth, 35, of Rochester, NY, who was convicted of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering, was sentenced to serve 51 months in prison and pay $810,965.19 in restitution by U.S. District Judge Frank P. Geraci, Jr. In addition, Wadsworth was ordered to forfeit $810,956.19, which represents the wire fraud proceeds he received. This case is part of the Trump Administration’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud.

BOSTON – Four individuals have been charged for allegedly defrauding the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program by submitting fraudulent applications.

Ian Jackson, a two-time convicted felon, was sentenced to more than ten years in federal prison today for executing a scheme to steal over $3 million in at least 15 fraudulent pandemic loans.

PHOENIX, Ariz. –Mohammed Maio, 44, of Phoenix, was sentenced yesterday by United States District Judge Michael T. Liburdi to 10 years in prison. Maio previously pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Commit Wire and Bank Fraud, Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering, Bank Fraud, Felon in Possession of a Firearm, and Materially False Statement During the Acquisition of a Firearm.