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COVID scam case overview:
- Who: The federal government has charged six individuals with conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
- Why: The government claims the individuals attempted to scam it out of nearly $15 million in funds for COVID-19 relief.
- Where: The case is being heard in New York federal court.
Federal prosecutors in New York have charged six individuals with conspiracy to commit wire fraud via an alleged scheme to scam the government out of nearly $15 million in COVID-19 relief funds.
The feds argue the accused conspired to submit fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan applications — that contained “materially false and fraudulent representations” — to various financial institutions.
The defendants allegedly submitted 114 fraudulent PPP applications that sought COVID-19 relief funds for 56 different individuals, including two of the accused.
In addition, two of the defendants were charged with aggravated identity theft for allegedly transferring, possessing, and using a means of identification of another person without lawful authority during and in relation to a felony violation.
“As we continue to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, this office will pursue and prosecute the fraudsters that took advantage of a global emergency,” U.S. Attorney Damien Williams said in a statement last week.
Alleged fraudsters obtained more than $4.6 million crooked PPP loans, feds say
The government argues the individuals were able to get more than $4.6 million in fraudulent PPP loans out of a total of $14.7 million sought from between July 2020 and February 2022.
In addition to allegedly submitting fraudulent PPP loan applications and recruiting others into their scheme, prosecutors argue two of the defendants were also given kickbacks that they shared amongst the group.
“As alleged, the defendants schemed to steal millions of dollars from a program Congress created to help struggling small businesses weather the COVID-19 pandemic,” Williams said.
A trio of small business owners came together in 2021 to accuse lender Prestamos of exploiting the PPP for its own financial gain by allegedly collecting fees but failing to pay out loans after promising to do so.
Are you concerned with claims that individuals attempted to defraud the government out of COVID-19 relief funds? Let us know in the comments!
The COVID scam case is United States of America v. Walker, et al., Case No. 7:23-mj-04465, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
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4 thoughts onFeds charge 6 in $15 million COVID-19 relief fund scam
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BofA needs to be sued! they screwed be out of funds I think they took my funds Add me