Reports

Orlando, Florida – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces that Don V. Cisternino (45, Chuluota) has been successfully extradited from Croatia to face charges of wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and illegal monetary transactions. A federal grand jury in Orlando previously returned an indictment against Cisternino for these charges in February 2021. If convicted, Cisternino faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison for each wire fraud count, up to 10 years’ imprisonment for each illegal monetary transaction count, and a mandatory consecutive term of two years for...

Fort Myers, Florida – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces the return of an indictment charging Daniel Joseph Tisone (34, Naples) with wire fraud, bank fraud, aggravated identity theft, illegal monetary transactions, and possession of ammunition by a convicted felon. If convicted, Tisone faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in federal prison for each wire fraud count (4 counts) and bank fraud count (6 counts), a 2-year minimum mandatory term of imprisonment for the aggravated identity theft counts (2 counts), up to 10 years in federal prison for each illegal monetary transaction...

Four people have been charged with participating in COVID-19 relief fraud schemes, and three of them have already pled guilty.

A Santa Clarita man was sentenced today to 41 months in federal prison for attempting to steal millions of dollars in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) COVID-relief loans for his companies by submitting fraudulent applications that included fake tax documents and information for non-existent employees.

A Riverside County man who purported to own a pothole-repair company was found guilty by a federal jury today of fraud charges for using hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) for personal expenses such as luxury cars after he obtained a PPP loan for more than $7 million on behalf of his business.

A federal jury convicted a California man today of misappropriating hundreds of thousands of dollars in forgivable Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

Physician Partners of America LLC (PPOA), headquartered in Tampa, Florida, its founder, Rodolfo Gari, and its former chief medical officer, Dr. Abraham Rivera, have agreed to pay $24.5 million to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by billing federal healthcare programs for unnecessary medical testing and services, paying unlawful remuneration to its physician employees and making a false statement in connection with a loan obtained through the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).