Search

Recent headlines state that $191 billion in pandemic unemployment insurance was lost to fraud. Not exactly. In this Department of Labor Office of Inspector General's Congressional Testimony, around $76 billion of that is classified as fraud. The rest of those funds are referred to as improper payments.

A federal grand jury in Cleveland returned a 13-count indictment charging two individuals for their alleged roles in a scheme to fraudulently obtain approximately $4.2 million in COVID-19 relief funds guaranteed by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Joseph Oloyede, 61, of Medina, Ohio and Edward Oluwasanmi, 61, of Willoughby, Ohio are charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering offenses.

NEWARK N.J. – A federal grand jury returned an indictment today charging a Bergen County, New Jersey, tax preparer with fraudulently seeking more than $150 million from the IRS by filing more than 1,600 false tax returns for himself and his clients that claimed COVID-19-related employment tax credits.

A Jefferson City, Mo. man has pleaded guilty in federal court to a $12.4 million bank fraud scheme that included fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans for four businesses.

JOHN MATAVA, 60, of Coventry, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Kari A. Dooley in Bridgeport to 24 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for offenses related to his receipt of COVID-19 relief funds.

BOSTON – A Haverhill man was arrested and charged today in connection with a Massachusetts Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) claim he filed in 2020 for a man who was living in Brazil and who has since been charged with migrant smuggling, among other offenses.

DENVER – The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado announces Tarek Kassem, 63, of Parker, Colorado, was indicted by a federal grand jury for wire fraud and money laundering.