Investigative Press Releases

VALDOSTA, Ga. –  A Georgia man convicted for money laundering after he fraudulently filed for $2.6 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act was sentenced to prison and ordered to pay restitution exceeding $800,000.

DEL RIO – A Mexican national was sentenced last week to 45 months in prison for stealing Social Security benefits. According to court documents, in May 2006 Jaime Aguilar, 60, applied for Social Security Insurance (SSI) benefits, claiming to be a U.S. citizen.  Aguilar also applied and received Medicaid benefits beginning in March 2012, again claiming he was a U.S. citizen.  It was later determined that Aguilar was a Mexican citizen and had fraudulently received $247,477.68 in government assistance payments.

SHREVEPORT, La. - United States Attorney Brandon B. Brown announced that Lynn D. Cawthorne, 55, a former Caddo Parish Commissioner, and his sister and co-defendant, Belena C. Turner, 50, both of Shreveport, Louisiana, were sentenced today by United States District Judge Elizabeth E. Foote for committing wire fraud. 

BOSTON – The founders of a local nonprofit, Violence in Boston (VIB), have been indicted by a federal grand jury in connection with a series of alleged schemes designed to defraud VIB and its donors, the Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Assistance and a mortgage lending business based in Chicago.