Georgia man sentenced for trying to steal COVID relief funds
August 5, 2021 GMT
ATLANTA (AP) — A Georgia man who tried to fraudulently obtain over $1.5 million in COVID-19 relief from two federal programs will spend two and a half years in prison, the Department of Justice said.
Christopher Hayes, 35, pleaded guilty in May to defrauding a U.S. Department of Agriculture program and trying to steal from another led by the IRS.
This case is the first completed prosecution in the country for fraud relating to these two sources of aid, according to a Tuesday news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia.