Investigative Press Releases
Friday, April 9, 2021
RIVERSIDE, California – Federal authorities this week arrested three Inland Empire residents on fraud charges alleging they used information belonging to California state prison inmates to file for pandemic-related unemployment benefits, with each causing at least $345,000 in losses.
The three defendants are charged in separate criminal complaints, and each woman faces two counts – fraud in connection with emergency benefits and wire fraud.
Friday, April 9, 2021
NORFOLK, Va. – A Virginia Beach man was sentenced today to 10 years in prison for his role in an internet-based loan scam that defrauded nearly 1,700 owners and prospective owners of small businesses out of $1,076,000, and for fraudulently collecting unemployment benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Friday, April 9, 2021
NORFOLK, Va. – A federal grand jury returned an indictment yesterday charging four individuals with allegedly participating in a conspiracy to use the personal identifying information of 35 Virginia prison inmates in order to fraudulently obtain over $300,000 in pandemic-related unemployment benefits.
Friday, April 9, 2021
SYRACUSE, NEW YORK – Muhammad Z. Aabdin, 30, of New York City, has been charged by complaint with offering a bribe to a public official, Acting United States Attorney Antoinette T. Bacon and Special Agent in Charge Christopher F. Algieri, Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General, Northeast Field Office.
Friday, April 9, 2021
MONTGOMERY & PHILADELPHIA – Acting United States Attorneys Sandra J. Stewart and Jennifer Arbittier Williams jointly announced that Southeast Alabama Community Action Partnership, Inc. (“SEACAP”) has agreed to pay $30,000 and to implement enhanced compliance measures to resolve claims arising from SEACAP’s administration of community service grants funded through AmeriCorps (formerly the Corporation for National and Community Service).
Friday, April 9, 2021
Montgomery, Alabama – On Thursday, April 8, 2021, three defendants pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the Alabama State Department of Education (ASDE) by falsely inflating the number of students enrolled in public virtual schools, announced the United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Alabama.
Friday, April 9, 2021
PHILADELPHIA and MONTGOMERY – Acting United States Attorneys Jennifer Arbittier Williams and Sandra Stewart jointly announced that Southeast Alabama Community Action Partnership, Inc. (“SEACAP”) has agreed to pay $30,000 and to implement enhanced compliance measures to resolve claims arising from SEACAP’s administration of community service grants funded through AmeriCorps (formerly the Corporation for National and Community Service).
Friday, April 9, 2021
HOUSTON – The former superintendent of Houston Gateway Academy has been ordered to federal prison after taking more than a ¼ million dollars, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Jennifer B. Lowery.
Richard Garza, 61, Houston, pleaded guilty Sept. 20, 2019.
Friday, April 9, 2021
Miami, Florida – A South Florida man appeared today before a federal magistrate judge in Miami to face an indictment charging him with conspiring to defraud the Internal Revenue Service.