COVID & Pandemic relief fraud

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'A brazen scheme': 47 charged with siphoning $250M from COVID-19 child meal program

WASHINGTON – Federal authorities unveiled charges against 47 people Tuesday accused of siphoning $250 million from a coronavirus pandemic relief program designed to provide meals for children in the largest pandemic-related fraud scheme brought so far by the Justice Department.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2022/09/20/covid-19-child-meal-program-fraud-charges/10435117002/

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Man gets 6 years for $4.2M COVID relief fraud scheme

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A South Florida man was sentenced Wednesday to six years and two months in federal prison for trying to obtain more than $4.2 million in COVID-19 relief funds by filing false loan applications.

https://apnews.com/article/covid-relief-fraud-florida-f85dab73e12edd01686802595d3d8e91

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The Great Grift: How billions in COVID-19 relief aid was stolen or wasted

WASHINGTON (AP) — Much of the theft was brazen, even simple.

https://apnews.com/article/pandemic-fraud-waste-billions-small-business-labor-fb1d9a9eb24857efbe4611344311ae78?

The Great Grift: 5 things to know about how COVID-19 relief aid was stolen or wasted

WASHINGTON (AP) — The greatest grift in U.S. history was brazen, even simple. Criminals and gangs grabbed the money. So did an U.S. soldier in Georgia, the pastors of a defunct church in Texas, a former state lawmaker in Missouri and a roofing contractor in Montana.

https://apnews.com/article/pandemic-fraud-waste-billions-small-business-labor-f33cdb6d2a9f0dbee8716c349d82250a

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The Great Grift: More than $200 billion in COVID-19 aid may have been stolen, federal watchdog says

WASHINGTON (AP) — More than $200 billion may have been stolen from two large COVID-19 relief initiatives, according to new estimates from a federal watchdog investigating federally funded programs that helped small businesses survive the worst public health crisis in more than a hundred years.

https://apnews.com/article/pandemic-covid19-fraud-small-business-inspector-general-7e651b3e405863f0be9f2e34ca47b93e?

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More Than 3,100 Charged With Pandemic Relief Fraud, Justice Department Says

WASHINGTON — For more than two years, Leon Haynes, a New Jersey tax preparer, told some of his clients that the federal government was giving out “free money” in the form of pandemic relief to people who owned businesses. According to federal prosecutors, Haynes filed more than 1,000 false tax forms, fraudulently claiming more than $124 million in COVID-19 employment tax credits for businesses that he and others owned.

https://local.newsbreak.com/new-jersey-state/3133329711247-more-than-3100-charged-with-pandemic-relief-fraud-justice-department-says?

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Anchorage City Commissioner Charged With Fraudulently Obtaining $1.6 Million in COVID-19 Relief Funds for Her Charity

Despite a history of fraud allegations, Rosalina Mavaega and her husband received one of the city’s largest awards under the American Rescue Plan Act. Prosecutors say the couple spent the funds buying cryptocurrency and on other personal uses.

https://www.propublica.org/article/alaska-anchorage-rosalina-mavaega-fraud-charity-indictment?

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17 Broward deputies charged in pandemic loan fraud

Seventeen deputies at the Broward Sheriff’s Office are accused of falsifying paperwork to collect money under government programs meant to help keep small businesses alive during the COVID pandemic.

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2023/10/12/multiple-broward-sheriffs-employees-facing-indictments-over-pandemic-relief-fund-misuse/?

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An Oklahoma man used pandemic relief funds to have his name cleared of murder An Oklahoma man who was freed after being imprisoned for decades on a murder conviction said there are more cases like his. Ricky Dority used pandemic relief money to hire a private investigator, who worked with students from Oklahoma City University’s Innocence Project to free him. Read more.

Why this matters: Dority is one of nearly 3,400 people who have been exonerated nationwide since 1989, mostly after murder convictions, according to the National Registry of Exonerations. In Oklahoma, there have been more than 43 exonerations in that time, not counting another three this year.   The exonerations underscore problems within the judicial system including overworked defense attorneys, shoddy forensic work, overzealous prosecutors and outdated investigative techniques.

Related coverage ➤ Republican-led Oklahoma committee considers pause on executions amid death case scrutiny 2 Kentucky men exonerated in 1990s killing awarded more than $20 million

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Florida lawmaker who penned "Don't Say Gay" law sentenced to prison

A former Florida lawmaker who penned the state's controversial "Don't Say Gay" law has been sentenced to prison for wire fraud, money laundering and making false statements in connection with obtaining $150,000 in COVID-19 relief loans.

https://local.newsbreak.com/florida-state/3199917485002-florida-lawmaker-who-penned-dont-say-gay-law-sentenced-to-prison?

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The Great Grift: COVID-19 aid thieves bought fancy cars, a Pokemon card — even a private island

YANKEETOWN, Fla. (AP) — A freshwater spring bubbles amid the mangroves, cabbage palms and red cedars on Sweetheart Island, a two-acre uninhabited patch of paradise about a mile off the coast of this little Gulf Coast town.

https://apnews.com/article/pandemic-fraud-grift-millions-private-island-a005ecfc3226f4ea501eb952c8ec1a8f?

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Another Joel Greenberg associate arrested. This time, it’s a former SBA employee

Angela Chew allegedly processed fake COVID loans for the disgraced Seminole County Tax Collector’s businesses

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2023/11/27/another-joel-greenberg-associate-arrested-this-time-its-a-former-sba-employee/?

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Fraud trial juror reports getting bag of $120,000 and promise of more if she’ll acquit

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A juror was dismissed Monday after reporting that a woman dropped a bag of $120,000 in cash at her home and offered her more money if she would vote to acquit seven people charged with stealing more than $40 million from a program meant to feed children during the pandemic.

https://apnews.com/article/minnesota-feeding-our-future-pandemic-fraud-73610b59bb60bf33f2aa06063bb592d2?

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Bag of cash doesn’t stop jurors from convicting 5 of 7 defendants in $40 million food fraud scheme

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A jury convicted five Minnesota residents and acquitted two others on Friday for their roles in a scheme to steal more than $40 million from a program that was supposed to feed children during the coronavirus pandemic. The case received widespread attention after someone tried to bribe a juror with a bag of $120,000 in cash.

https://apnews.com/article/minnesota-food-fraud-bag-of-cash-8752231fd8c74762209bac8f35a592e4?

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Former state Rep. Carolina Amesty charged with stealing COVID-19 relief funds

U.S. prosecutors are charging former state Rep. Carolina Amesty with stealing from the federal government’s COVID-19 relief funds, the latest humiliating turn in the career of a woman once viewed as a rising star in the Florida GOP.

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2025/01/17/former-state-rep-carolina-amesty-charged-with-covid-19-relief-fraud/?

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Again? Carolina Amesty is the second Florida lawmaker accused of COVID fraud | Commentary

When the feds accused former legislator Carolina Amesty last week of defrauding taxpayers of money meant for COVID-19 relief, maybe that didn’t surprise you. Amesty, after all, is rivaling George Santos with her knack for making cringe-inducing headlines.

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2025/01/21/again-carolina-amesty-is-the-second-florida-lawmaker-accuse-of-covid-fraud-commentary/?

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Minnesota jury convicts alleged ringleader of massive pandemic food fraud scheme on all counts

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A jury found the alleged ringleader of a massive pandemic fraud case in Minnesota guilty on all counts Wednesday for her role in a scheme that federal prosecutors say stole $250 million from a program meant to feed children in need.

https://apnews.com/article/feeding-our-future-pandemic-fraud-trial-847f42be252ecd373c60125fd4fae6e9?