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BOSTON – The owner of Stash’s Pizza, who is currently facing alleged federal forced labor charges, has been indicted by a grand jury in Boston for allegedly submitting false information to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) to obtain a loan on behalf of a business he no longer owned.

A Louisiana woman pleaded guilty today to theft of public money in connection with a scheme to misappropriate over $780,000 from the Provider Relief Fund (PRF), a COVID-19 pandemic relief program administered by the Health Resources and Services Administration.

The Justice Department’s COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force (CFETF) today released its 2024 report detailing the efforts of the task force and its member agencies in response to widespread fraud involving many COVID-19 relief programs targeted by fraudsters and other criminals who sought to exploit the government’s relief efforts for their personal gain.

Since its inception in May 2021, members of the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force (CFETF) have used a full range of tools to hold accountable fraudsters and other criminals who sought to exploit the government’s pandemic response for their personal gain. This work has resulted in:

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A Columbus man who estimated he filed more than 3,000 fraudulent COVID-relief applications was sentenced in U.S. District Court today to 72 months in prison.

“At the height of the COVID pandemic, Liu and Rodriguez brazenly fabricated vaccine cards and sold them for profit, thereby putting the safety of others at risk during this deadly health crisis” stated United States Attorney Peace. “This prosecution demonstrates our Office’s ongoing commitment to holding accountable those who engaged in COVID-19 fraud. These prison sentences should deter other lawbreakers who put their own interests above public health.”

A federal grand jury in Cleveland returned a 13-count indictment charging two individuals for their alleged roles in a scheme to fraudulently obtain approximately $4.2 million in COVID-19 relief funds guaranteed by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Joseph Oloyede, 61, of Medina, Ohio and Edward Oluwasanmi, 61, of Willoughby, Ohio are charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering offenses.

In this performance audit of the State of Illinois's response to the management of the COVID-19 outbreak at the LaSalle Veterans' Home, the Illinois Office of the Auditor General identified that while the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) was notified of the increasing number of COVID-19 cases at the LaSalle Veterans’ Home beginning on November 1, 2020, they did not identify and respond to the seriousness of the outbreak despite it being a responsibility of the department to provide guidance and monitoring to protect the residents at the LaSalle Veterans’ Home.