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BOSTON – An Easton man was convicted today, following an eight-day trial of using Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funds to secretly purchase a home in the name of a close relative.

A Maryland woman and a New York woman have admitted to fraudulently obtaining COVID-19 relief funding on behalf of a West Virginia resident.Kimberly VanKline, 56, of Hyattsville, Maryland, and Rhonda Brown-Moore, 65, of Brooklyn, New York, pled guilty today to conspiring to commit wire fraud related to the improper receipt of funds from the COVID Relief Act.

Baltimore, Maryland – Natonia Johnson, 52, of Baltimore, Maryland, pled guilty today, to one count of wire fraud in connection with a bribery scheme that she conducted as a Maryland Department of Labor (MD-DOL) contractor to issue fraudulent unemployment insurance funds. Johnson assisted friends, family members, and strangers with fraudulently filing and obtaining UI benefits they were not eligible to receive in exchange for bribes and kickback payments.

Shahron Vaulx submitted eight fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program loan applications between May 2020 and June 2021.

Jamika Weese, a/k/a Jae, was sentenced to federal prison for operating a brothel out of an Atlanta apartment from which she transported women to other states for commercial sex. Weese also fraudulently obtained nearly $70,000 worth of federal loans intended to assist legitimate businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Roosevelt Gulley III, 41, of Sacramento, pleaded guilty today to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.

Baltimore, Maryland – Edward McCorkle, 37, of Baltimore County, Maryland, pled guilty today, to one count of wire fraud, in connection with submitting fraudulent CARES Act loan applications. According to his plea agreement, beginning in May 2020, and continuing through February 2021 in the District of Maryland, McCorkle engaged in a scheme to defraud financial institutions — including Cross River Bank, and the SBA — to obtain fraudulent loans for various purported businesses that he previously established under the PPP and EIDL program.

John J. Diehl Jr. pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one count of wire fraud.

BOSTON – A Brockton man pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court in Boston to submitting fraudulent information in an effort to obtain unemployment benefits through the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program.