Reports

A Maryland man pleaded guilty today to conspiring to defraud Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act loan programs and to his role in a years-long scheme to defraud commercial equipment financing companies.

Earlier today, at the federal courthouse in Central Islip, a criminal complaint was unsealed charging Jonathan Cannon and Julie Dotton with wire fraud in connection with a scheme to defraud a company seeking to purchase personal protective equipment (“PPE”) at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

To learn how communities across the nation responded to the pandemic, we initiated a multi-part review of six communities—two cities, two rural counties, and two Tribal reservations. This report is the first community-specific report and focuses on our work in Springfield, Massachusetts, where we previously identified that recipients, including city government, small businesses, and individuals, received almost $1.88 billion from 52 pandemic relief programs and subprograms. This report provides a closer look at nine pandemic programs and subprograms provided to Springfield by eight federal...

“Our office is committed to rooting out abuse of the relief programs provided by the CARES Act," said Acting U.S. Attorney Morris Pasqual.

Anton Demetrius Matthews, age 40, of Wheeling, West Virginia, was sentenced to more than 13 years in prison for wire fraud, cocaine trafficking, and a supervised release violation. According to United States Attorney William Ihlenfeld, Matthews obtained nearly $50,000 in CARES Act loans after misrepresenting his income and occupation while he was incarcerated.

CAMDEN, N.J. – An Atlantic County, New Jersey, man was sentenced to 30 months in prison for laundering the proceeds of fraudulently obtained Paycheck Protection Program loans.

NEWARK N.J. – A Middlesex County, New Jersey, man was sentenced today to 30 months in prison for conspiring to illegally obtain over $400,000 in COVID-19 unemployment benefits.

On April 25, a central Florida man was sentenced to 12 months and a day in federal prison for fraudulently obtaining COVID-19 relief loans and grants under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the Economic Injury Disaster Relief Program (EIDL); after previously pleading guilty to wire fraud.