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Today, the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division along with the Small Business Administration (SBA) and the SBA Office of Inspector General, as part of a Heartland Fraud Surge announced the results of Operation No Doze, a surge of criminal enforcement actions targeting fraud in SBA’s small business COVID-era loan programs.

BOSTON – The Massachusetts State Representative for the 16th Essex District, representing Lawrence and Methuen, was arrested today and charged with fraudulently obtaining over $700,000 in COVID unemployment insurance benefits and small-business loans, and using the proceeds to buy real estate and loan money to clients of his mortgage business, before he was elected to public office.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – A Chickaloon man was sentenced yesterday to two years in prison for orchestrating a scheme to defraud the U.S. government of COVID-19 relief funds.

URBANA, Ill. – A federal grand jury indicted an Urbana woman, Titianna Ammons, of the 1100 block of North Busey Avenue, on three counts of wire fraud for allegedly defrauding the U.S. Department of Labor and Illinois Department of Employment Security from October of 2020 to October of 2021.

Greenbelt, Maryland – A Maryland woman received a prison term for her role in an unemployment insurance (UI) fraud conspiracy. District Judge Deborah L. Boardman sentenced Kiara Smith, 28, of Prince George’s County, to 42 months in federal prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft charges, in connection with the scheme.

Lakeia Simone Grant, aka Lakeia Shepperd, 40, of Newport News, was sentenced to over seven years in prison for COVID era unemployment insurance fraud scheme.

Sharon Henderson, a member of the Georgia House of Representatives, was arrested today and should appear in court this afternoon after a federal grand jury charged her with two counts of theft of government funds and ten counts of making false statements.