A Jamaican woman is accused of stealing several million dollars’ worth of COVID-19 relief funds, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said.
The FBI said Elaine Angene Escoe is wanted for her role and involvement in a conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering in a scheme to obtain over $34 million in federal COVID-19 relief funds.
The agency said Escoe and others reportedly submitted more than 990 fraudulent applications for funds from the Paycheck Protection Program, Economic Injury Disaster Loans, the Restaurant Revitalization Fund and Shuttered Venue Operators Grant between May 2020 and November 2021.
According to the “Wanted” announcement posted by the FBI, the applications reportedly contained false information regarding employee counts, payroll expenses and business revenues.
The scheme resulted in the wrongful disbursement of approximately $29.1 million in PPP funds, $1.2 million in RRF funds, and $3.8 million in SVOG funds. After the funds were disbursed, Escoe and others allegedly directed payments to each other and to businesses they controlled, withdrew large sums in cash, and used blank, signed checks to conceal the origin and nature of the proceeds, the FBI said. --->READ MORE HERE
The alleged head of the Arizona Mexican Mafia has been convicted in a COVID-era fraud scheme and has admitted to five long-unsolved murders from the 1990s, according to the Arizona Attorney’s General Office.
A grand jury in Arizona found Paul Eppinger, 64, was among 30 people involved in the criminal street gang where many Arizona people submitted false claims for unemployment benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic the Arizona Attorney General’s Office announced on Tuesday.
Eppinger was already serving a life sentence in the Federal Bureau of Prisons for two counts of conspiracy, participating in a street gang, money laundering and illegal control of an enterprise. He received an additional 25-year sentence for each cold case murder, according to the AG’s office.
Prosecutors said when Eppinger entered his guilty plea, he also gave detailed confessions of his role in five gang-related murders from the 1990s. Those cases had remained cold until now.
“I’m proud of the attorneys and investigators in my office who helped bring these cold cases to justice,” said Attorney General Kris Mayes. --->READ MORE HEREFollow links below to relevant/related stories and resources:
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