Florida couple charged with $5.8-million COVID relief fraud
By FOX 13 News Staff
Published
Images via DOJ
DAVENPORT, Fla. - A Polk County couple is accused of fraudulently collecting $5.8 million in COVID-19 relief money and using it to buy a luxury car, Louis Vuitton merchandise, and more, then flaunting it on Facebook.
According to prosecutors, Julio Lugo and Rosenide Venant, both of Davenport, submitted at least 70 false and fraudulent loan applications starting last spring to the Small Business Administration, including for shell companies established by Lugo, Venant, and their relatives.
They also secured coronavirus relief funds for a defunct tax-preparation company that Lugo had previously used for a 2015 fraud scheme, officials said.
Central Florida couple could get decades in prison for COVID relief fraud, prosecutors say
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Florida couple charged with $5 8-million COVID relief fraud
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Venant could be sentenced to 35 years based on her charges.
Beginning around March 2020, the complaint says, Lugo and Venant conspired to defraud the Small Business Administration out of COVID-19 relief funds. They used their home IP-address to submit at least 70 false and fraudulent loan applications, seeking funds from the Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loan program, a news release said.
The fraudulent loan applications sought more than $5.8 million, including for shell companies established by the couple and their relatives, the release said. They also secured relief funds for a defunct tax-preparation company that Lugo previously used to perpetrate a tax fraud in or around 2015, the release said.