A Louisiana man was sentenced today to 10 years in prison for money laundering in connection with a fraudulent scheme to obtain more than $1.1 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) Program loans.
“The significant sentence handed down today demonstrates that those who steal from COVID-19 relief programs for personal gain will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “We remain committed to rooting out bad actors who took advantage of federal programs meant to help those small businesses truly in need.”
“This defendant stole over $1 million through fraudulent means and used those funds to support his own personal lifestyle, taking from those whose legitimate businesses were suffering from losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” said U.S. Attorney Brandon B. Brown for the Western District of Louisiana. “Federal programs such as these are set up to help those in need, not to benefit fraudsters. It is a priority for our office to prosecute those who obtain these benefits illegally. We look forward to continued collaboration with the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section in aggressively investigating similar crimes related to the COVID-19 pandemic.”
According to court documents, Michael Ansezell Tolliver, 57, of Monroe, submitted nine fraudulent PPP and EIDL Program loan applications on behalf of several purported companies that Tolliver owned, including Tolliver Oil & Gas Corporation of Louisiana Inc. and Tolliver Petroleum Corporation of Louisiana. Tolliver falsified information in the loan applications and supporting documents, including falsely claiming that some of his businesses had over 100 employees. He also submitted falsified federal tax returns.
“Mr. Tolliver chose greed over compassion by fraudulently obtaining funds from the PPP and EIDL programs established to assist employers severely impacted by the pandemic,” said Special Agent in Charge James E. Dorsey of the IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Atlanta Field Office. “Tolliver’s sentence today should stand as a warning to those who fraudulently received or may have attempted to fraudulently receive funds intended to help businesses during the COVID epidemic.” --->READ MORE HERE
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| Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images |
Some of the people most strongly associated with promoting lockdown measures during the COVID-19 pandemic have recently sought to recast their positions, including Anthony Fauci, former leader of the federal COVID-19 response, teachers’ union head Randi Weingarten, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Fauci seemed eager to shirk responsibility for the lockdowns when talking to The New York Times last week.
“Show me a school that I shut down and show me a factory that I shut down. Never. I never did,” he said.
It was the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that produced the lockdown recommendations, he emphasized.
“I gave a public-health recommendation that echoed the CDC’s recommendation, and people made a decision based on that,” he said, noting that he “happened to be perceived as the personification of the recommendations.”
That perception wasn’t mere happenstance though. Fauci hardly missed an opportunity for a media spotlight, accepting accolades for supposedly leading the country through the crisis.
Fauci boasted in October 2020 that, early in the pandemic, it was he who recommended that President Donald Trump “shut the country down.”
“This was way before” the major outbreak in the New York City area at the onset of the pandemic, he said.
Moreover, Fauci now argues he was appreciative of those who had their reasons for not following the advice of federal public health agencies.
“I never criticized the people who had to make the decisions one way or the other,” he said.
That doesn’t appear to be accurate. --->READ MORE HEREFollow links below to relevant/related stories and resources:
New COVID Vaccinations/Boosters Slow To A Trickle
Businesses bounce back as COVID-19 pandemic comes to an end
USA TODAY: Coronavirus Updates
WSJ: Coronavirus Live Updates
YAHOO NEWS: Coronavirus Live Updates
NEW YORK POST: Coronavirus The Latest
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