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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).

CINCINNATI – A Cincinnati man is charged with wire fraud as part of a scheme to fraudulently obtain a Covid relief loan.

The Justice Department announced today the results of a coordinated, nationwide enforcement action to combat COVID-19 fraud, which included 718 enforcement actions – including federal criminal charges against 371 defendants – for offenses related to over $836 million in alleged COVID-19 fraud.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A former Columbus woman was sentenced in federal court today to 72 months in prison for committing 16 counts of wire and passport fraud. The defendant stole the identity of a baby who died as an infant and used the infant’s identity to obtain a passport, a student pilot license, a job as a flight attendant, and pandemic relief loans.

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.

A Tipp City, Ohio man was sentenced in U.S. District Court today to 18 months in prison for defrauding a Dayton non-profit organization of rental assistance funds.

An Orlando, Florida man pleaded guilty to wire fraud and making false statements related to five coronavirus relief Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) Loans and four Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL). The businesses were not open when he sought the loans.

CINCINNATI – Federal agents arrested nine individuals for crimes relating to a conspiracy to buy firearms online and have them shipped to Cincinnati-area federal firearms licensees (FFLs). It is alleged that more than 70 firearms were bought with stolen credit card information and picked up, or attempted to be picked up, at local FFLs via straw purchases that hid the identity of the true buyer. Several of the defendants are also charged with COVID-relief crimes totaling more than $120,000 in alleged loss.

CINCINNATI– A man who filed for relief under the Paycheck Protection Program and fraudulently claimed that he was running a business during the time he was incarcerated pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court today to one count of wire fraud.

CINCINNATI– A man formerly and currently incarcerated in Hamilton County on state charges has been charged federally with crimes related to Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan fraud.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The former director of a local Islamic center pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court today to embezzling funds from the mosque, defrauding public housing, and filing for fraudulent COVID assistance funds.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A former Columbus woman pleaded guilty in federal court today to 16 counts of wire and passport fraud. The defendant stole the identity of a baby who died as an infant and used the infant’s identity to obtain a passport, a student pilot license, a job as a flight attendant, and pandemic relief loans.

CINCINNATI – A Florida man who conspired to steal identities to fraudulently obtain credit and COVID-19 relief funds was sentenced in federal court here today to 96 months in prison.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A Columbus woman was arrested in Utah on federal charges related to stealing the identity of a baby who died as an infant. The woman allegedly used the infant’s identity to obtain a passport, a student pilot license, a job as a flight attendant, admission into The Ohio State University and pandemic relief loans.

CINCINNATI – A former insurance agent was arrested this morning on federal charges alleging he defrauded dozens of victims in the Cincinnati and Dayton area and fraudulently obtained two COVID Paycheck Protection Program loans.

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio entered a consent decree permanently enjoining a Columbus-area woman from producing and selling fake Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) COVID-19 vaccination cards.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A Columbus woman was sentenced in federal court here today and ordered to pay a fine of $250,000, the maximum amount allowed by law, for committing COVID relief fraud. In addition to her fine, she was ordered to pay more than $128,000 in restitution.

The COVID-19 Pandemic presented the Department with many challenges and obstacles including a sharp increase in the volume of unemployment claims as well as the expansion of regular unemployment benefits by the federal government. The Department did not have the man-power or technology resources to adequately deal with this drastic increase in claim activity and the addition of new federal unemployment funding. The Department’s legacy unemployment System, Ohio Job Insurance (OJI), has been in place since 2004. Due to its age and functionality, it was unable to handle the increased volume of...

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ohio’s unemployment system was flooded with new claims. Our audit found that the unemployment compensation system was not prepared for the surge in unemployment applications resulting from the pandemic. While limited human resources played a role, antiquated systems and lack of business intelligence made problems worse.