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A United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer has been arrested on a five-count federal grand jury indictment alleging he fraudulently obtained nearly $150,000 in COVID-19 pandemic business-relief loan funds for two of his sham businesses, the Justice Department announced today.

A Columbia, Mo., man who ran a scheme to defraud insurance companies through staged accidents and who fraudulently applied for COVID-19 relief funds was sentenced in federal court today for conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud and aggravated identity theft.

Fort Myers, Florida – U.S. District Judge Thomas J. Barber has sentenced Timothy Craig Jolloff (48, Fort Myers) and Lisa Ann Jolloff (58, Fort Myers) to eight years and one month, and three years, respectively, in federal prison for wire fraud, bank fraud and illegal monetary transactions. The Court also ordered the Jolloffs to pay $3.4 million in restitution to the Small Business Administration (SBA) and to forfeit $3.4 million which was the proceeds of the offense. The Jolloffs entered guilty pleas on April 24, 2024.

Tampa, Florida – United States Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe announces that Denys Perez (31, Tampa) has pleaded guilting to wire fraud related to COVID relief funds. Perez faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison. In addition, he faces a forfeiture order of $502,900, as well as a forfeiture order for the property he purchased with proceeds of his offense. A sentencing date has not yet been set.

Baltimore, Maryland – Today, Chief U.S. District Judge George L. Russell, III, sentenced Ryan E. Dales, 36, of Baltimore, to 26 years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release. Dales, a previously convicted felon, was charged with unlawfully possessing a firearm as a felon, possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft.

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.

BOSTON – The owner of Stash’s Pizza was sentenced today in federal court in Boston for submitting false information to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) to obtain a loan on behalf of a business he no longer owned.

Orlando, FL – Acting United States Attorney Sara C. Sweeney announces that Joshua Robinson (32, Texas) has pleaded guilty to wire fraud. Robinson faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison. A sentencing date has not yet been set.

This report updates Congress on progress made by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) on the 39 open pandemic-related recommendations referenced in Office of Inspector General (OIG) Report 23-09, COVID-19 Pandemic EIDL and PPP Loan Fraud Landscape. Over the course of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, SBA disbursed approximately $1.2 trillion of COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan and Paycheck Protection Program funds. The economic assistance was intended to help eligible small business owners and entrepreneurs adversely affected by the crisis. In Report 23-09, we...