Reports

PROVIDENCE – The United States Attorney’s Office, the Office of the Rhode Island Attorney General, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Rhode Island State Police today publicly updated information on criminal investigations and prosecutions of individuals who are alleged to have targeted and defrauded federally funded programs created to assist businesses and individuals impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, including the Paycheck Protection Program and Unemployment Insurance Program. Since the enactment of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act in March 2020, a...

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) is issuing this Management Alert regarding serious concerns with the control environment and the tracking of performance results in the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant (SVOG) program requiring immediate attention and action.SBA should take immediate action to reduce or eliminate risks by strengthening existing controls and implementing internal controls to address potential misuse of federal funds. Strong controls will ensure the SVOG program can effectively help eligible small business owners and entities that have suffered economic injury because of the...

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland has seized “healthbridgescience.com,” “global-pandemic-vaccines.com,” and “genobioscience.com” all of which purported to be the websites of actual biotechnology companies developing treatments for the COVID-19 virus but instead were allegedly used to collect the personal information of individuals visiting the sites, in order to use the information for nefarious purposes, including fraud, phishing attacks, and/or deployment of malware. Individuals visiting those sites now will see a message that the site has been seized by the federal...

CINCINNATI – Four local individuals have been charged federally with defrauding COVID-19 pandemic relief funding programs. In separate cases, the four are alleged to have lied about owning businesses and employing others. Some defendants allegedly applied multiple times for relief funding and some allegedly spent the funding they received on lavish personal items and vacation travel.

A criminal complaint has been filed charging Rudolph Brooks, Jr., age 45, of Cheltenham, Maryland, on the federal charge of wire fraud. In addition, law enforcement obtained warrants authorizing the seizure of more than $2.2 million held in various bank accounts, as well as a 2018 Tesla Model 3. The criminal complaint was filed on March 29, 2021 and was unsealed following Brooks’s arrest on April 2, 2021.

Tampa, Florida – Acting United States Attorney Karin Hoppmann announces the filing of a criminal complaint charging Julio Lugo (44) and Rosenide Venant (37), both of Davenport, with conspiracy and making false statements to a financial institution. Lugo has also been charged with an illegal monetary transaction relating to the illegal use of coronavirus relief funds to pay off a note on a luxury car purchased during the conspiracy. If convicted, Lugo faces a maximum penalty of 45 years in federal prison; Venant faces up to 35 years’ imprisonment.