Reports

Ocala, FL - A Florida man pleaded guilty on Monday to purchasing Medicare identification numbers and using those numbers to cause over $8.4 million of false and fraudulent claims to be submitted to Medicare.

GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA – Sean Walker, 34, of High Springs, Florida, was sentenced to 42 months in federal prison for wire fraud in connection with COVID-19 relief fraud. The sentence was announced by Michelle Spaven, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.

PROVIDENCE – Four Florida residents convicted in U.S. District Court in Rhode Island for executing one of the largest schemes in the country to defraud Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act programs, including in Rhode Island, have been sentenced to federal prison, announced Acting United States Attorney Sara Miron Bloom.

Cortney Merritts, 46, of St. Louis, Missouri, was charged today by federal indictment with two counts of wire fraud for allegedly filing fraudulent applications with the Small Business Administration in 2020 and 2021 that allowed him to collect more than $20,000 in government funds under the Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program (EIDL) and Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).

Greenbelt, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Lydia K. Griggsby sentenced Andra Shirone Thompson, 48, of Silver Spring, Maryland, to a year and a day for two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Thompson pled guilty to conspiring to defraud Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act loan programs and his role in a years-long scheme to defraud commercial equipment financing companies

Baltimore, Maryland – Today, U.S. District Judge Julie R. Rubin sentenced Devante Smith, 30, of Baltimore, Maryland, to 57 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release, in connection with his role in an unemployment insurance fraud scheme. Through the conspiracy, victims lost at least $298,685.