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A San Diego restaurant owner was sentenced to 42 months in prison for schemes to defraud COVID-19 relief programs and filing false tax returns.

SAN DIEGO – Thomas Zolezzi of San Diego pleaded guilty in federal court today, admitting that he committed fraud to obtain almost $3 million intended to help those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. In his plea agreement, Zolezzi admitted he submitted five loan applications containing false statements to trick lenders into providing the relief funds. He used the borrowed funds to pay his personal expenses. As part of his guilty plea, Zolezzi agreed to pay restitution of $700,884.75 to the Small Business Administration (“SBA”) and $2,238,910.24 to Capital Plus Financial.

Nigerian nationals Quazeem Owolabi Adeyinka, 22, and Ayodeji Jonathan Sangode, 25, currently both residing in Maryland, were sentenced today to 26 months and 14 months in prison respectively for their roles a fraud conspiracy during the COVID-19 pandemic,

A federal grand jury has charged a doctor who operated clinics in Westminster and Garden Grove with defrauding a COVID-19 program for uninsured patients by submitting more than a quarter billion dollars in claims – ultimately receiving about $150 million in payments – for services not covered under the program or simply not provided.

A NASA-Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) employee has agreed to plead guilty to defrauding a government-sponsored loan program designed to help people and businesses survive the COVID-19 pandemic’s economic impact and has admitted that he used part of the proceeds to fund illegal marijuana cultivation, the Justice Department announced today.

SAN DIEGO – Constantin Sandu of Romania pleaded guilty in federal court today, admitting that he masterminded a scheme to steal more than $5 million in California unemployment insurance benefits intended to help workers impacted by the pandemic.

A woman serving a life sentence in state prison for murder was sentenced today in federal court to 84 months in federal prison for leading a ring that fraudulently obtained more than $1.5 million in California unemployment insurance (UI) benefits – mostly pandemic-related relief – by using other people’s identities, some of which belonged to her fellow California prison inmates.

The Department of Justice today announced criminal charges against 18 defendants in nine federal districts across the United States for their alleged participation in various fraud schemes involving health care services that exploited the COVID-19 pandemic and allegedly resulted in over $490 million in COVID-19 related false billings to federal programs and theft from federally funded pandemic programs.

A Beverly Hills father and son were sentenced today to federal prison terms for defrauding government programs designed to help businesses survive the economic shock of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A downtown Los Angeles man was found guilty today by a jury of federal criminal charges for fraudulently obtaining more than $150,000 – and attempted to obtain an additional $1.85 million – in COVID-relief loans for several companies he claimed to own and operate.

A Riverside County man was sentenced today to 60 months in federal prison for using hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) for personal expenses such as luxury cars after he obtained a COVID-business relief loan for more than $7 million on behalf of his pothole-repair company.

A former Amtrak employee pleaded guilty today to federal criminal charges for conspiring with her husband to steal nearly $1 million in COVID-19 pandemic-related unemployment insurance (UI) benefits and for fraudulently obtaining more than $63,000 in sickness benefits while she worked at Amtrak.

The Department of Justice announced today new criminal charges, convictions, and sentences as part of its ongoing initiative to prosecute fraud in connection with various pandemic relief programs under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, including the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program, as well as other crimes relating to the COVID-19 pandemic.

A Beverly Hills man – whose sons pleaded guilty earlier this month to felonies for defrauding COVID-relief programs – pleaded guilty today to a federal criminal charge for fraudulently seeking more than $6.7 million in COVID-related small business loans for more than half a dozen fake companies.

A federal jury convicted the president of a Silicon Valley-based medical technology company today of participating in a scheme to mislead investors, commit health care fraud, and pay illegal kickbacks in connection with the submission of over $77 million in false and fraudulent claims for COVID-19 and allergy testing.

A Corona man pleaded guilty today to federal criminal charges in connection with a scheme to submit false loan applications that brought him more than $6.6 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) funds.

A San Fernando Valley certified public accountant pleaded guilty today to a federal criminal charge for helping a long-time client fraudulently obtain a $1.2 million COVID-19 business loan by knowingly preparing a false corporate tax return on the client’s behalf.

A Riverside County man who purported to own a pothole-repair company was found guilty by a federal jury today of fraud charges for using hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) for personal expenses such as luxury cars after he obtained a PPP loan for more than $7 million on behalf of his business.

A federal jury convicted a California man today of misappropriating hundreds of thousands of dollars in forgivable Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

A California-licensed naturopathic doctor pleaded guilty today in the Northern District of California for scheming to sell homeoprophylaxis immunization pellets and for falsifying COVID-19 vaccination cards by making it appear that customers had received the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-authorized Moderna vaccine.

A California-licensed naturopathic doctor pleaded guilty today in the Northern District of California for scheming to sell homeoprophylaxis immunization pellets and for falsifying COVID-19 vaccination cards by making it appear that customers had received the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-authorized Moderna vaccine.

An Orange County man who fled after authorities searched his residence on Wednesday is in federal custody today after he was arrested at the U.S.-Mexico border and charged with fraudulently obtaining more than $5 million in COVID-relief loans for three sham companies.

Three members of a San Fernando Valley family have been sentenced – two of them in absentia after they fled justice following their convictions at trial – to years in federal prison for scheming to fraudulently obtain more than $20 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) COVID-19 relief funds.

Seven members of a Los Angeles-based fraud ring were sentenced for a scheme to fraudulently obtain more than $20 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) COVID-19 relief funds.

A Santa Clarita Valley man was sentenced today to 51 months in federal prison for scheming to fraudulently obtain approximately $1.8 million in COVID-19 relief guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA) through the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program and the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).