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$44M COVID Tax Scheme: 7 Nabbed In Largest US Case Ever $44M COVID Tax Scheme: 7 Nabbed In Largest US Case Ever
$44M COVID Tax Scheme: 7 Nabbed In Largest US Case Ever Seven New Yorkers have been charged in a sweeping tax fraud scheme, accused of exploiting pandemic relief programs to steal over $44 million, federal prosecutors announced. The indictment by the US Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York, unsealed Wednesday, Jan. 22, alleges that the defendants filed over 8,000 fraudulent tax returns, seeking more than $600 million in COVID-19 relief funds through the Employee Retention Credit (ERC) and related programs. Investigators determined the group successfully secured $44 million from the federal government. Defendants Long Island …

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by Joe Lombardi
News
Virginia Army Reservist Used COVID Scam To Pay Swindlers Overseas: Feds Virginia Army Reservist Used COVID Scam To Pay Swindlers Overseas: Feds
Virginia Army Reservist Used COVID Scam To Pay Swindlers Overseas: Feds A Virginia Army reservist was apparently no better than the people he thought he was fooling. Russell Laraway, 56, of Leesburg, admitted he fraudulently claimed more than $400,000 in a COVID relief fund scheme, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Jessica D. Aber said. Being busted by the feds ultimately may have saved Laraway, though, who allegedly gave some of his hard-earned cash to foreign entities "in scams of which he was a victim," Aber's office said. According to court documents, Laraway incorporated two business entities that he purported to operate out of …

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by Cecilia Levine
News
Founder Of LGBTQ+ Non-Profit In DC Charged For Fraud After 'Unexpected Return' To US: Feds Founder Of LGBTQ+ Non-Profit In DC Charged For Fraud After 'Unexpected Return' To US: Feds
Founder Of LGBTQ+ Non-Profit In DC Charged For Fraud After 'Unexpected Return' To US: Feds The trailblazing founder of Casa Ruby, a DC-based non-profit that provided services to the LGBTQ+ community is facing charges for alleged fraud and money laundering, according to prosecutors. Ruby Corado, 53, made her initial court appearance in DC on Wednesday to face charges for allegedly defrauding Paycheck Protection and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan programs, and money laundering after fleeing the country, authorities announced. Specifically, Corado is accused of diverting at least $150,000 of $1.3 million in taxpayer-backed emergency relief funds, intended for the organi…

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by Zak Failla
News
DC Man Sentenced For Scheming To Steal $31M In COVID-19 Funds DC Man Sentenced For Scheming To Steal $31M In COVID-19 Funds
DC Man Sentenced For Scheming To Steal $31M In Covid-19 Funds A 31-year-old D.C. man was sentenced to 10 years in prison for trying to steal $31 million from the government’s COVID relief programs, officials said.  Elias Eldabbagh used his company, Alias Systems, LLC, to apply for 25 phony Paycheck Protection Program loans between July 2020 and May 2021, the U.S. Attorney's Office reported. Eldabbagh used an alias to hide his identity and steal over two million dollars, which he spread across 13 separate bank and brokerage accounts, authorities said.  He also stole from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, which…

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by AJ Goldbloom
News
$6.8M COVID-19 Scam: Ex-Hedge Fund Manager Gets 4+ Years, No Parole $6.8M COVID-19 Scam: Ex-Hedge Fund Manager Gets 4+ Years, No Parole
$6.8M Covid-19 Scam: Ex-Hedge Fund Manager Gets 4+ Years, No Parole A dual New York/Florida resident was sentenced in New Jersey to a plea-bargained 51 months in federal prison for fraudulently collecting more than $6.8 million in COVID-19 payroll protection loans -- $3 million of which he lost in the stock market. Gregory J. Blotnick, 35, will have to serve just about all of the sentence because there's no parole in the federal prison system. In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Judge Brian R. Martinotti sentenced Blotnick in Newark to two years of supervised release and ordered him to pay restitution of $4,577,631. Blotnick told the judge last f…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Falls Church Man Admits To Stealing Millions In COVID-Relief Money: Feds Falls Church Man Admits To Stealing Millions In COVID-Relief Money: Feds
Falls Church Man Admits To Stealing Millions In Covid-relief Money: Feds A 36-year-old Falls Church man faces up to five years in prison after he admitted this week to taking part in a conspiracy that stole millions in federal money earmarked for COVID relief, the Department of Justice said.  Fouzi Darakhshan pleaded guilty on Tuesday, May 31, to lying on applications to obtain Paycheck Protection Program loans and other federal programs, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Darakhshan, his brother, and several friends took part in a scheme that siphoned more than $3 million from those funds, federal authorities contend.  The U.S. Attorney's O…

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by Josh Lanier