A Houston man who was the head of a multimillion-dollar COVID-19 relief fraud ring and six of his co-conspirators were sentenced for fraudulently obtaining more than $20 million in forgivable Paycheck Protection Program loans that the Small Business Administration guaranteed under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, the United States Department of Justice announced Tuesday.
HOUSTON A federal grand jury in Houston has returned a superseding indictment against four additional individuals for fraudulently obtaining and laundering millions of dollars in forgivable Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans.
Florida Nurse Allegedly Lied to Obtain $420K in Coronavirus Relief
A nurse in South Florida fraudulently obtained approximately $420,000 in coronavirus relief money, federal prosecutors allege.
“Giraldo Caraballo, 55, of Miami, made his initial appearance Friday in Miami federal court,” the Associated Press (AP) reported Saturday.
Caraballo is charged with “engaging in transactions in unlawful proceeds and making false statements to a financial institution,” the article continued:
Caraballo applied for and received a Paycheck Protection Program [PPP] loan on behalf of his company, Professional Skills Inc., according to a criminal complaint. He claimed the company had 28 employees and an average monthly payroll of $168,000, which investigators said was untrue. The complaint also alleges that Caraballo applied for and received approximately $55,000 in Economic Injury Disaster Loan. Instead of using the money for payroll, prosecutors said Caraballo transferred the money to o