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A new twist on an old scam is targeting consumers and businesses throughout Northeast Ohio. The United States Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Ohio, and FBI Cleveland are warning the public about a scam that combines aspects of tech-support fraud with government impersonation.

NEW ORLEANS – U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that BASHIR SCHOFIELD (SCHOFIELD), age 24, a resident of LaPlace, La., was sentenced on March 5, 2024 by United States District Judge Greg G. Guidry to 4 years’ probation, after previously pleading guilty to wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343. SCHOFIELD participated in the preparation and filing of false applications for loans related to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). SCHOFIELD was also ordered to pay $282,650 in restitution, jointly and severally, with two relatives...

Tampa, FL – U.S. District Judge Charlene E. Honeywell today sentenced Tommy Louisville (71, Pembroke Pines) to one year and one day in federal prison for unlawful drug distribution, false statements relating to health care matters, and Paycheck Protection Program fraud. The court also ordered Louisville to pay restitution in the amount of $35,319.23 to the Small Business Administration and $8,466.56 to Medicare. Louisville entered a guilty plea on November 3, 2023.

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – A California resident pleaded guilty today to aiding and abetting wire fraud, which led to defrauding the federal government of approximately $114,066 in unemployment benefits during COVID-19, while he was living and working in Utah. He also admitted to aiding and abetting others to fraudulently apply and pay him as compensation.

ATLANTA, GA – Andrew (“Drew”) Maloney, 57, of Roswell, Georgia, has pleaded guilty to a criminal information charging him with conspiracy to pay health care kickbacks. The plea agreement is part of a global settlement with the United States and several states in which Maloney and the clinical laboratory that he owned, Capstone Diagnostics, of Atlanta, Georgia, have also agreed to pay $14.3 million to resolve False Claims Act allegations that they paid volume-based commissions to independent contractor sales representatives in violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute to arrange for or recommend...

NEWARK, N.J. – A Bronx, New York, man admitted his role in a kickback conspiracy involving COVID-19 testing.

U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross announced today that James Okolo, 61, of West Orange, New Jersey, who was convicted of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, was sentenced to 12 months in prison by U.S. District Judge John L. Sinatra, Jr.

Regina Brand was also ordered to repay the money.

A McLean man pleaded guilty today to defrauding the Small Business Administration by fraudulently obtaining approximately $455,000 in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) funds.

SAN DIEGO – David Constantin, alleged mastermind of a scheme to steal more than $5 million in California unemployment benefits intended to help workers affected by the pandemic, appeared in federal court today following his extradition Monday to the United States from Romania.

As a result of Operation Fraud Street Mafia, a Kern Valley State Prison (KVSP) inmate has been charged in two separate federal complaints with drug trafficking and COVID-19 fraud. Seven defendants in California and Maryland are also charged in the two schemes.

Nnamdi Iheanacho has been indicted on federal charges of wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, money laundering conspiracy, and concealment money laundering for stealing COVID-19 relief funds and federal tax refunds based on fraud and identity theft.

Teldrin Foster and Carla Jackson were found guilty by a jury for their roles in schemes to steal Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) funds during the COVID-19 pandemic.

SAN DIEGO –Eduard Buse and Florentina Sima pleaded guilty in federal court today to fraud and money laundering charges, admitting they participated in a scheme to steal more than $5 million in California unemployment benefits intended to help workers affected by the pandemic.

Kaymeisha Keyes, 32, most recently of Tracy, pleaded guilty today to one count of wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft.

NEW ORLEANS – FRANK LABRUZZO was sentenced on February 6, 2024, for conspiring with co-defendant, Cynthia Caronna, and a United Kingdom resident, for defrauding a business that sought to purchase personal protective equipment (PPE) during the COVID-19 pandemic, announced U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans.

A federal grand jury in Toledo returned an indictment on February 7, 2024, charging Daniel R. Hitlan, of Huron, Ohio, with three counts of bank fraud and five counts of money laundering related to filing false applications for Paycheck Protection Program loans.

On Feb. 5, a Miami woman was sentenced to 70 months in federal prison for money laundering of nearly $2 million in fraudulent COVID-19 relief loans, after previously pleading guilty in October 2023.

Three people were sentenced today for fraudulently obtaining and misusing Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans that the U.S. Small Business Administration guaranteed under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act in connection with their involvement in a COVID-19 fraud ring.

Corvell Wraggs Jr. fraudulently applied for Paycheck Protection Program loans totaling $33,832.

Tomeka Glenn, a/k/a “Tomeka Harris” and “Tomeka Davis,” age 47, of Windsor Mill, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, relating to the submission of millions of dollars in fraudulent COVID-19 CARES Act Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loan applications.

Four individuals, including two physicians, have been indicted in the Eastern District of Texas charged with federal violations involving a university athletic billing scheme, announced U.S. Attorney Damien M. Diggs today.

BOSTON – A Lynnfield man was sentenced today in federal court in Boston for fraudulently obtaining multiple Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act loans, including funds from the Payroll Protection Program (PPP), and unemployment benefits to which he was not entitled for his boxing gym.

Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that ELIZIER SCHER was sentenced to one year and one day in prison by U.S. District Judge Philip M. Halpern for his scheme to defraud the U.S. Small Business Administration (“SBA”) of more than $1.6 million in COVID-19 relief funds.

Tampa, FL – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces the results achieved by the Middle District of Florida’s efforts to combat fraud related to COVID-19. Those efforts have included complementary actions by the United States Attorney’s Office’s (USAO-MDFL) Criminal, Asset Recovery, Appellate, and Civil Divisions, along with federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies.

Theodore Mouzon, age 42, of Pikesville, Maryland pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, relating to the submission of fraudulent CARES Act loan applications. Co-defendant Yannice Nunez, age 34, of Baltimore County, Maryland, pleaded guilty to the same charge on January 4, 2024. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act was a federal law enacted in March 2020 to provide emergency financial assistance to Americans suffering from the economic effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Seattle – A 30-year-old New York City man was convicted today in U.S. District Court in Seattle of three counts of wire fraud and two counts of bank fraud related to his abuse of the COVID-19 Pandemic Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), announced Acting U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman.

U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett sentenced Reginald Alphonso Hopkins, age 52, of Prince George’s County, Maryland, today to two years in federal prison, followed by one year of home confinement as part of three years of supervised release, for a wire fraud conspiracy relating to the submission of fraudulent claims for the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) benefits under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act. The CARES Act was a federal law enacted in March 2020 to provide emergency financial assistance to Americans suffering from the economic effects caused...

U.S. District Judge Deborah L. Boardman sentenced Denish Sahadevan, a/k/a “Danny Devan,” age 32, of Potomac, Maryland, today to three years in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and money laundering, relating to his scheme to defraud lenders and the Small Business Administration (“SBA”) of more than $1.2 million in Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) loans and Economic Injury Disaster Loans (“EIDL”). Judge Boardman also ordered that Sahadevan will forfeit the cash and Bitcoin seized during a search of his residence on...

LAS VEGAS – A North Las Vegas man was sentenced today by United States District Judge Gloria M. Navarro to 19 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release for submitting at least 56 fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan applications on behalf of himself and others totaling more than $1.1 million dollars over the course of more than six months.

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – An indictment was unsealed after a California man was arrested and is scheduled to appear in a Salt Lake City federal courthouse. The eight count indictment charges the defendant for unlawfully collecting unemployment insurance during COVID-19 from California while living and working in Utah. He also allegedly assisted others in committing the same acts for a cut of their unemployment insurance funds administered under the CARES Act.

JOHN MATAVA, 59, of Coventry, pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Kari A. Dooley in Bridgeport to offenses related to his receipt of COVID-19 relief funds.