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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – W. Stephen Muldrow, U.S. Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico, announced the indictment of two businessmen, a certified public accountant, and four Puerto Rico-based companies for a fraudulent scheme to illegally obtain federal recovery funds under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, bribe a bank employee, and launder the fraudulent proceeds of the scheme.

SAN JUAN, P.R. – On August 22, 2024, a Federal Grand Jury in the District of Puerto Rico returned 32 separate indictments charging 32 individuals with engaging in fraud to obtain Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) benefits totaling $981,071, announced W. Stephen Muldrow, United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the United States Department of Labor Office of Inspector General (USDOL-OIG) are in charge of the investigations with the assistance of the United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) and the Puerto Rico Department of...

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – W. Stephen Muldrow, U.S. Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico, announced the indictment of 19 individuals for their participation in a scheme to illegally obtain federal recovery funds under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The Grand Jury charged the defendants with multiple counts of wire fraud and money laundering.

SAN JUAN, P.R. – On December 13, 2023, the Federal Grand Jury in the District of Puerto Rico returned 11 separate indictments charging 11 individuals with the theft of federal-economic-impact payments from during the COVID-19 pandemic totaling $858,600, announced W. Stephen Muldrow, U.S. Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico. These cases were investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Puerto Rico Police Bureau (PRPB), and the Puerto Rico Department of Treasury (Hacienda).

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Ivelisse Rivera-Padilla, Carla Carrillo-Torres, and VIP Healthcare Solutions, Inc. (“VIP Healthcare”) pleaded guilty before United States District Court Chief Judge Raul M. Arias Marxuach.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – W. Stephen Muldrow, U.S. Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico, announced the indictment of 27 individuals for their participation in a scheme to illegally obtain federal recovery funds under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The Grand Jury charged the defendants with multiple counts of wire fraud and money laundering. The charging documents allege that from April 2020 through July 2023, the defendants and their co-conspirators caused the submission of at least 23 Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) and Paycheck Protection Program (PPP)...

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.

The Department of Justice today announced criminal charges against 18 defendants in nine federal districts across the United States for their alleged participation in various fraud schemes involving health care services that exploited the COVID-19 pandemic and allegedly resulted in over $490 million in COVID-19 related false billings to federal programs and theft from federally funded pandemic programs.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – W. Stephen Muldrow, U.S. Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico, announced the indictment of six individuals for a multi-million-dollar fraudulent scheme to illegally obtain federal recovery funds under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The Grand Jury charged the defendants with multiple counts of wire fraud, money laundering, Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) fraud, and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) fraud. The charging documents claim that from April 2020 through April 2023, the defendants and their co-conspirators caused the...

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Ivelisse Rivera-Padilla and Carla Carrillo-Torres, and the company VIP Healthcare Solutions, Inc. (“VIP Healthcare”) were indicted by a federal Grand Jury in relation to bankruptcy fraud, a money laundering scheme, PPP fraud, and bank fraud announced W. Stephen Muldrow, U.S. Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – A federal grand jury in the District of Puerto Rico returned an indictment on February 1, 2023 charging Elberto Berdut-Teruel, Wanda L. Carballo-Cabrera, María Santos-Carballo, and Magnetic Healer of PR Inc. with conspiracy and introduction of adulterated and misbranded devices with intent to defraud and mislead, conspiracy to commit mail fraud, and alteration of a device after shipment in interstate commerce.

SAN JUAN, P.R. – Martín Scamaroni-Cintrón was sentenced on January 18, 2023 by United States District Court Judge Aida Delgado-Colón to 30 months in prison for laundering Unemployment Benefits and Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) Funds from his bank account in Puerto Rico.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Defendant Millisen M. Martínez-Medina pleaded guilty before United States Magistrate Judge Camille Vélez-Rivé to 13 counts of theft of government funds from the Unemployment Insurance and Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Program, announced W. Stephen Muldrow, U.S. Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico. She was charged in 12 separate cases regarding PUA fraud in April and October of 2021.

SAN JUAN, P.R. – On March 23, 2022, the Federal Grand Jury in the District of Puerto Rico returned an indictment charging Fernando Gallardo-Álvarez and his consensual partner Olga Rivera-Dávila with a conspiracy to commit mail, wire, and bank fraud, aggravated identity theft, and money laundering violations related to fraudulently obtained funds from the Unemployment Insurance (UI) and Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) Program, announced W. Stephen Muldrow, U.S. Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico. The case was investigated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland...

The objective of this desk review is to evaluate Puerto Rico's documentation supporting the uses of its Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF) proceeds as reported in GrantSolutions and to assess risk of unallowable use of funds. The scope of our review will include obligation and expenditure data for the period of March 1, 2020 through June 30, 2021.

SAN JUAN, P.R. – On March 10, 2022, the Federal Grand Jury in the District of Puerto Rico returned an indictment charging Martín Scamaroni-Cintrón with money laundering violations related to fraudulently obtained funds from the Unemployment Insurance and Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Program, announced W. Stephen Muldrow, U.S. Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico. The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the United States Department of Labor Office of Inspector General (USDOL-OIG), and the Puerto Rico Department of Treasury (Hacienda).

SAN JUAN, P.R. – On October 27 and 28, 2021, the Federal Grand Jury in the District of Puerto Rico returned six separate indictments charging eight (8) individuals with fraud against the Unemployment Insurance and Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Program, announced W. Stephen Muldrow, U.S. Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico. These cases were investigated by various federal agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), the United States Department of Labor Office of Inspector General (USDOL-OIG), and the Social Security...

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Liz Ann Banchs, the owner and president of Farmacia Gabriela, Inc. was charged and pleaded guilty on September 24, 2021 to participating in a felony conspiracy to convert government property and to commit health care fraud in connection with the illegal vaccination of minors between the ages of 7 to 11 with the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. The announcement was made by W. Stephen Muldrow, United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico and Scott Lampert, Special Agent in Charge for the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector...

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – The United States Attorney’s Office, District of Puerto Rico filed an Information charging Tonatiuh Antonio Leal-Matos with two counts of violating the Defense Production Act (50 U.S.C. § 4512) in relation to price gouging personal protective equipment (“PPE”), face masks and disinfecting wipes, during the COVID-19 national public health emergency, announced W. Stephen Muldrow, United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is in charge of the investigation.

SAN JUAN, P.R. – On April 7 and 8, 2021, the Federal Grand Jury in the District of Puerto Rico returned eleven separate indictments charging twelve (12) individuals with fraud against the Unemployment Insurance and Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Program, announced W. Stephen Muldrow, U.S. Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico. These cases were investigated by various federal agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), the United States Department of Labor Office of Inspector General (USDOL-OIG), the Social Security Office...