Find Corporate Waste

Category: EIDL Loans

  • Seven Men Arrested in $205K COVID Relief Fraud Case

    Seven Men Arrested in $205K COVID Relief Fraud Case

    Federal prosecutors announced that seven Las Vegas men have been arrested and indicted in connection with allegedly fraudulent COVID-19 relief loan applications.

    According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Nevada⁠, the defendants are accused of submitting false information and fake documentation to obtain funds through the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loan program. The alleged fraudulent proceeds totaled $205,639.

    The defendants named by DOJ are Elias Santino Acereto, Sheyland Juakeen Barnett, James Sean Freeman II, Yves Garry Harrison-Pierre, Tyrone Tatrice Johnson, Marcus Dushun McMillian-Bonner, and Nathan Jeffry Scott. Six defendants were charged with one count of wire fraud, while Freeman was charged with two counts.

    The SBA Office of Inspector General⁠ said the arrests followed coordinated law enforcement actions in Nevada, Arizona, and Texas involving the FBI, SBA-OIG, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, and North Las Vegas Police Department.

    For Find Corporate Waste⁠, the case is another reminder that COVID-era relief enforcement remains active. Even smaller-dollar PPP and EIDL cases can expose broader weaknesses in application screening, identity verification, and post-payment review.

  • Maryland Man Gets 9 Years for EIDL Money Laundering Scheme

    Maryland Man Gets 9 Years for EIDL Money Laundering Scheme

    A Maryland man was sentenced to nine years in federal prison for helping launder fraud proceeds tied to Economic Injury Disaster Loans and other schemes, according to the DOJ.

    Bright Boateng, 45, of Bladensburg, was also ordered to pay $1,247,950 in restitution and forfeit $431,750. Prosecutors said Boateng admitted that nearly $1.5 million in laundering occurred through his direct role in the conspiracy.

    The DOJ said the scheme ran from 2020 through November 2023 and involved shell companies, bank accounts opened in those entities’ names, stolen identity information, and transactions designed to conceal fraud proceeds. Boateng allegedly received money from at least seven EIDL loans and used a fake Maryland driver’s license bearing his photo with another person’s information.

    The broader case charged 14 defendants, 13 of whom have pleaded guilty. The prosecution involved HSI, IRS-CI, EPA-OIG, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland.

    For Find Corporate Waste, the case shows how pandemic-relief fraud often continued after funds were approved, with shell entities and false identity documents used to move and hide taxpayer money.

    Anyone with inside knowledge of EIDL fraud, shell-company laundering, stolen-identity bank accounts, or pandemic-relief funds routed through false entities may have information relevant to public-fraud enforcement.

  • Delco Woman Pleads Guilty in $7.17M EIDL Fraud-Proceeds Laundering Scheme

    Delco Woman Pleads Guilty in $7.17M EIDL Fraud-Proceeds Laundering Scheme

    A Pennsylvania woman pleaded guilty in a money laundering conspiracy tied to more than $7.17 million in fraud proceeds, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

    Christina Williams, 31, of Drexel Hill, admitted to conspiring to launder fraud proceeds with her mother, Rosemarie Dixon, and others. The case was also highlighted by the SBA Office of Inspector General.

    Prosecutors said Williams Royal Real Estate LLC and Dixon Delish Kitchen LLC were sham businesses with no real operations or employees. Bank accounts opened in those names allegedly received proceeds from fraudulent Economic Injury Disaster Loan applications and business email compromise schemes.

    The government says the funds were quickly moved between business accounts, personal accounts, and other sham-business accounts controlled by participants in the conspiracy. Prosecutors placed the total amount laundered, attempted to be laundered, or agreed to be laundered at $7,171,730.

    Williams and Dixon are scheduled to be sentenced on September 9. Each faces up to 20 years in prison.

    For Find Corporate Waste, the case underscores a recurring pandemic-fraud lesson: the paper trail does not stop at the false application. It often runs through shell entities, bank accounts, insider permissions, and rapid money movement.

  • Georgia Man Gets 37 Months in $441K COVID Relief Fraud Case

    Georgia Man Gets 37 Months in $441K COVID Relief Fraud Case

    Brian Graham, 49, of Lithia Springs, Georgia, was sentenced to 37 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to wire fraud in a COVID-relief scheme involving the PPP and EIDL programs.

    According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado, Graham prepared and submitted fraudulent loan applications between April 2020 and August 2021 for several business entities he controlled. Prosecutors said the applications misstated employee counts, gross revenues, cost of goods sold, and payroll.

    The court ordered Graham to pay $441,546 in restitution, serve three years of supervised release, and forfeit proceeds tied to the offense. The SBA also highlighted the sentence.

    The critical allegation was not just bad paperwork. Graham certified that the information was accurate and that the funds would be used for payroll and other approved business expenses. Prosecutors said he instead used the bulk of the money for himself.

    The case, United States v. Graham, 1:25-cr-00079-JLK, was investigated by TIGTA and the SBA Office of Inspector General.

    Brian Graham allegedly used his role as a notary to defraud the American taxpayer.

    For Find Corporate Waste, the Graham case is a reminder that pandemic fraud often hides in plain sight: controlled entities, inflated numbers, false certifications, and taxpayer-backed money converted into personal gain.

  • California Medical Company Owner Pleads Guilty to Stealing More Than $1M in Pandemic Relief Funds

    California Medical Company Owner Pleads Guilty to Stealing More Than $1M in Pandemic Relief Funds

    A California medical business owner has pleaded guilty to stealing more than $1 million from federal pandemic relief programs.

    According to the DOJ, Mehrdad Tabrizi owned Life Fleet Inc. and Resonante Group, two Orange County medical businesses. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he used those companies to submit fraudulent applications for Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loan funds.  

    The DOJ said Tabrizi falsely claimed Life Fleet was operating and had employees who received wages in 2019 and 2020. In reality, the company had been shuttered in 2018 and was no longer operational. Those false PPP applications caused approximately $696,565 to be disbursed into bank accounts he controlled.  

    Tabrizi also submitted fraudulent EIDL applications claiming Life Fleet and Resonante Group had revenue and business expenses before January 2020. Those applications brought in another $319,800, even though neither company was entitled to the money. The DOJ also said he withdrew $60,000 of the fraud proceeds to help buy a 2019 Porsche Turbo Cabriolet.  

    He pleaded guilty to four counts of wire fraud and one count of money laundering. Sentencing is scheduled for September 28, 2026.

    For Find Corporate Waste, this case shows why pandemic relief fraud remains a major public-accountability issue. Relief programs moved quickly, but speed created opportunities for false certifications, inactive companies, inflated payroll claims, and misuse of taxpayer funds. FCW will continue tracking pandemic relief cases, False Claims Act recoveries, and public-record signals that expose waste, fraud, and abuse.