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As the pandemic passes the two-year mark, a new wave of federal cases against alleged COVID-19 scammers is being seen across the country, with some totaling over $1 million.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is continuing to pile up indictments across the country as additional fraud cases are uncovered. The effort is part of the DOJ's initiative to combat coronavirus fraud, and last Thursday, the DOJ announced that it had uncovered over $8 billion in fraud schemes since the pandemic began.
The DOJ's efforts are ramping up as more federal executives are beginning to take notice of the massive amounts of COVID-19 fraud. This includes those at the White House, where President Joe Biden pledged in his State of the Union speech to "go after the criminals who stole billions of relief money meant for small business and millions of Americans."
Biden also said that the DOJ would be announcing a chief prosecutor to focus on pandemic-related fraud. This appointment occurred soon thereafter, with the chief prosecutor, Kevin Chambers, saying that he looked forward to "supporting the excellent work of the department's prosecutors and trial attorneys since the very beginning of the pandemic."
In this past week alone, three high-profile fraud cases have been in the spotlight, with hundreds of thousands of dollars illegally changing hands in each case, according to prosecutors.
On March 16, a Lehigh Acres, Florida, couple pleaded guilty to 22 total counts related to a COVID fraud scheme totaling approximately $881,000. The DOJ said that the pair used these illegally obtained funds to purchase a $211,000 house in North Carolina and multiple vehicles, among other things.
A sentencing date for the couple, Amber and Anthony Bruey, has not been announced, but the husband and wife each face a maximum penalty of 80 years in prison.
That same day, a Middlesex County, New Jersey man pleaded guilty to fraudulently receiving a $1.6 million loan. The man, Jordan Larkins, admitted to submitting three false loan applications in an effort to get the money.
The DOJ said that Larkins then used the money "by making a series of cash withdrawals, transferring funds to foreign banks, and for various other personal expenses." Larkins faces up to 60 years behind bars and is scheduled to be sentenced this July.
Another notable case was closed Thursday when a North Carolina jury found Izzat Freitekh and his son Tarik Freitekh guilty of bank and wire fraud charges related to COVID loans. The pair had been on trial since early March, according to WSOC-TV.
The father and son had filled out false loan applications for small businesses that had not existed at the time, according to prosecutors. These loans were said to have totaled $1.7 million—despite WSOC-TV reporting that Tarik Freitekh was himself worth around $300 million.
Investigators said that they had recovered almost all of the money involved in the loan.
When reached for comment, the DOJ referred Newsweek to a statement which said, "The Justice Department's efforts to combat COVID-19 related fraud schemes have proceeded on numerous fronts, including cases and investigations involving the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program, Unemployment Insurance (UI) programs, and COVID-19 health care fraud enforcement."
The DOJ's statement said that their efforts "have resulted in criminal charges against over 1,000 defendants with alleged losses exceeding $1.1 billion; the seizure of over $1 billion in Economic Injury Disaster Loan proceeds; and over 240 civil investigations into more than 1,800 individuals and entities for alleged misconduct in connection with pandemic relief loans totaling more than $6 billion."
