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Ocala, Florida – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces that Passion Lajodia Jackson (30, Ocala) has pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud related to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act. Jackson faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison and an order of forfeiture for at least $20,132, representing the proceeds obtained from the offense. A sentencing date has not yet been set.

U.S. District Judge Theodore D. Chuang sentenced Dion Rashaan Foxworth, age 42, of Washington, D.C., to 51 months in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for wire fraud related to an investment fraud scheme and bank fraud related to a fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) loan. Judge Chuang also ordered Foxworth to pay restitution of $882,908.66.

U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross announced today that two brothers, Larry Jordan, 45, of Lancaster, NY, and Sutukh El a/k/a Curtis Jordan a/k/a Hugo Hurt a/k/a Hugo Hermes Hurtington, 41, of Buffalo, NY, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge John L. Sinatra, Jr. to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and wire fraud for their participation in a scheme to file fraudulent loan applications seeking forgivable Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The charge carries a maximum...

Irvin Coats and Pamela S. Hubbard fraudulently submitted applications that resulted in three loans.

As part of a coordinated nationwide effort to fight COVID-19 fraud, the Southern District of Georgia has taken action against individuals who illegally obtained nearly $11 million in funds intended to help struggling small businesses during the global pandemic.

HONOLULU – On September 5, 2023, Oseola Vakameilalo, was arraigned in federal court and pled not guilty to all 12 charges in an indictment relating to fraud in connection with the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) unemployment insurance program.

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

BOSTON – A Norfolk, Mass. man has been charged and has agreed to plead guilty to conspiring to price gouge hospitals for scarce N95 filtering facepiece respirators (N95 masks) at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

BOSTON – A former North Shore resident was sentenced today in connection with filing fraudulent applications for more than $660,000 in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan funds and using those funds for personal expenses, including the purchase of an alpaca farm in Vermont.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Two Central Ohio women are charged federally with crimes related to fraudulently receiving more than $2.8 million total in covid-relief funds from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).

A California man pleaded guilty yesterday to fraudulently obtaining $345,108 in COVID-19 pandemic relief loans from a financial institution and the Small Business Administration (SBA).

Tacoma – A disbarred attorney, sentenced last year to 18 months in prison for stealing from a deceased client’s estate and defrauding a friend, pleaded guilty today to wire fraud and making false statements for her scheme to illegally claim COVID pandemic benefits, and lie to the government about her income, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman.

NEW ORLEANS - CYNTHIA CARONNA, a resident of Jefferson Parish, pleaded guilty on August 22, 2023, to a bill of information for conspiring with her co-defendant, Frank LaBruzzo, and with a resident of the United Kingdom to defraud a business seeking to purchase personal protective equipment (PPE) at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, announced U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans.

A Freeman man had his initial appearance today on charges of wire fraud, filing a false tax return, tax evasion, and making false statements to a financial institution.

Ranjan Rajbanshi, D.D.S., 46, of Bakersfield and Santa Barbara, pleaded guilty today to stealing $500,000 in COVID-19 relief money.

MIAMI – A federal grand jury charged Emmanuel Bully, Jr., 44, of Miami-Dade County, Florida, with wire fraud. Per the indictment, Bully fraudulently obtained more than $500,000 in

NASHVILLE – John Paul Dillon, 40, of Franklin, Tennessee pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court to fraud in connection with COVID-19 relief programs, mortgage fraud, and money

Regina Brand submitted fraudulent applications for rental assistance and Paycheck Protection Program loans.

Salt Lake City, Utah – A Utah resident and three-year fugitive was arrested in Utah County on federal charges after fleeing from federal law enforcement in 2020.

SAN DIEGO – Denny Bhakta of San Diego was arraigned in federal court today on additional charges that he fraudulently obtained $4 million in Paycheck Protection Program loans through several entities he managed and controlled. Bhakta was first indicted in December 2021 for defrauding investors in his companies; a grand jury returned a superseding indictment this week that includes additional charges.

BOSTON – A Rhode Island man was sentenced today in federal court in Boston for his involvement in a fraudulent scheme to obtain and misuse COVID-19-related unemployment assistance.

NEWARK, N.J. B A New York man was arrested this morning on charges he fraudulently obtained more than $1 million in a COVID-19 scheme.

A federal grand jury returned an indictment charging Reginald Davis, age 40, of Baltimore, Maryland, for wire fraud and money laundering relating to the submission of fraudulent COVID-19 CARES Act loan applications. Davis is the former Chief Executive Officer of Strong City Baltimore (“SCB”), established in Maryland in 2015 as a non-profit organization serving individuals, community associations, institutions, and businesses in Baltimore. The indictment was returned on August 3, 2023, and unsealed today upon the arrest of the defendant.

FLORENCE, SOUTH CAROLINA — Nariman Mahmoud Masoud, 35, of Florence, South Carolina, and Susan Masoud, 34, of Tampa, Florida, were sentenced after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud related to unemployment insurance benefits.

Lakisha Swope has been sentenced to federal prison for obtaining more than $3.6 million by submitting fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) applications.

NEWARK, NJ. – Two New York men today admitted their roles in a fentanyl distribution conspiracy, and one of the men also admitted conspiring with seven separately charged individuals to defraud multiple states to obtain COVID-19 unemployment benefits.

FLORENCE, SOUTH CAROLINA —Troy Benjamin Bittner, 54, of Myrtle Beach, has pleaded guilty in federal court to wire fraud and filing a false tax return.

INDIANAPOLIS- Brianna Yerkey, 21, of Struthers, Ohio, has been sentenced to 6 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to wire fraud. According to court documents, beginning in

NEW ORLEANS – On August 2, 2023, U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced the charging of FRANK LABRUZZO and CYNTHIA CARONNA for conspiracy to commit wire fraud in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1343 and 371.

A federal jury in Maryland convicted Ron Elfenbein, M.D., age 49, of Arnold, Maryland, for five counts of healthcare fraud for submitting over $15 million in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare and other insurers for patients who received COVID-19 tests at sites operated by the defendant. Elfenbein is the first doctor convicted at trial by the Justice Department for health care fraud in billing for office visits in connection with patients seeking COVID-19 tests.

BOSTON – A Dudley man was sentenced today in federal court in Boston for his involvement in a fraudulent scheme to obtain and misuse COVID-19-related unemployment assistance.

DETROIT - Eleven residents of southeast Michigan have been charged in a 23-count indictment for their alleged role in a multi-million-dollar unemployment insurance fraud scheme targeting funds set

CHARLOTTE, N.C. –Spenc’r Denard Rickerson, 36, of Claremont, N.C., was sentenced today to six years in prison followed by two years of supervised release for committing bank robbery

BOSTON – The owner of a Massachusetts-based food truck business was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Boston for filing fraudulent loan applications in order to obtain $1.5 million in pandemic relief under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act and the American Rescue Plan Act.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Jeannetta Blackmon, also known as Jeannetta Regan, 48, of Charlotte, pleaded guilty today to wire fraud and money laundering for obtaining more than $1.5 million

A federal jury in the Southern District of Ohio today convicted Kelli Prather, 51, of Cincinnati of crimes pertaining to her request for more than $1.2 million in pandemic relief loans. She was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals after the jury returned its guilty verdicts.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Nigerian national Olamide Yusuf Bakare, 26, currently residing in Laurel, Maryland, was sentenced today to four years and nine months in prison for conspiracy to

An indictment was unsealed yesterday charging a Nevada doctor and his wife with fraudulently obtaining approximately $1.3 million in COVID-19 pandemic relief loans through the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program and the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Steven Andiloro, 51, of Mooresville, N.C., is facing federal charges in connection with an alleged investment fraud scheme and for fraudulently obtaining more than $2.6

ALBANY, NEW YORK – Todd Ward a/k/a “Fats,” age 44, of Troy, New York; Christopher Ward a/k/a “Reek,” age 45, of Troy; Rocco Resciniti a/k/a “Rock,” age 49

NEW ORLEANS – LYNN SCHOFIELD, age 60, and BASHIR SCHOFIELD, age 23, residents of LaPlace, Louisiana, were federally charged on July 13, 2023 for preparing and filing false loan applications related to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), announced U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans. LYNN SCHOFIELD was charged in a one-count bill of information with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 371 and 1343. BASHIR SCHOFIELD was charged in a one-count bill of information with wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States...

SAN DIEGO – University City Dermatologist Mona Zohdi Mofid was sentenced in federal court today to two years’ probation after pleading guilty in April to misdemeanor hoarding of N95 respirator masks that had been designated scarce during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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.

NEW ORLEANS – U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that TEMIKA SANTEMORE, age 43, currently a resident of Houston, Texas, was charged July 7, 2023 in a two-count bill of information with making false statements and theft of government funds related to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act).

In 2020, QUAMDEEN AMUWO, 41, participated in a scheme to defraud the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program.

MIAMI – Samuel Harris, 43, who was a police officer with the Miami-Dade Police Department (“MDPD”), has pleaded guilty to wire fraud in connection with his fraudulent applications

WASHINGTON – A federal grand jury in Puerto Rico returned a superseding indictment charging four men with one count of conspiracy to launder funds from wire, mail, and access device fraud schemes. One defendant, Oluwasegun Baiyewu, was previously charged on Oct. 21, 2021.

NEWARK N.J. – A New Jersey and Texas man and woman were arrested in Texas on charges related to fraudulently obtaining Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) totaling approximately $790,000.