FACES UP TO 20 YEARS IN PRISON
On February 22, 2024, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, for the Eastern District of New York, announced that TD (36) of Jamica, New York, had been arraigned on an “eight-count indictment charging him with wire fraud, theft of public funds and money laundering in connection with a scheme to steal funds from the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program (EIDL), a United States Small Business Administration (SBA) program that provided emergency funding to distressed businesses during the Covid-19 pandemic.”
Back in 2020 and 2021, TD allegedly applied for those COVID related assistance claiming that he operated a consulting business which had over $575,000 in revenue and $535,000 in expenses, when, in actually, the entity did not exist. His false claims allowed him to secure some $1,151,000 in proceeds which he used, among other things, to make jewelry purchases.
In a written statement, Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, noted, “As alleged, the defendant submitted applications filled with fabricated information in order to steal more than $1 million dollars in government funds intended to help hard-hit small businesses and their employees survive the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic …. The defendant then laundered and used the stolen funds to buy jewelry and for personal securities trading. Today’s indictment shows that this Office remains committed to identifying and prosecuting those who stole pandemic relief funds.”
The charges in the indictment are allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
If convicted, TD faces up to two decades in prison.
Wonder how he’s going to float that.
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