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Angelo Stephen, 33, a former Federal Bureau of Prisons Correctional Officer, and George Arestuche, 47, a former Miami-Dade County Aviation Department employee, were sentenced in separate cases after pleading guilty to defrauding COVID-19 relief programs.

Fourteen defendants – including San Fernando Valley and Glendale residents – were arrested on two federal criminal complaints alleging they fraudulently obtained more than $25 million in taxpayer-funded COVID-19 relief funds and federally-guaranteed small business loans.

DENVER – The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado announces that Joseph Ronald Trenkle, 54, formerly of Cherry Hills Village, Colorado and currently of Dorado, Puerto Rico, has been charged in a criminal information with one count each of wire fraud and money launderin

Yesterday, Tramaine Liptrot, 43, a police officer with the City of Miami Police Department (MPD) who has been relieved of duty, pleaded guilty to wire fraud in connection with fraudulent applications for two Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans totaling over $200,000.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – W. Stephen Muldrow, U.S. Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico, announced the indictment of two businessmen, a certified public accountant, and four Puerto Rico-based companies for a fraudulent scheme to illegally obtain federal recovery funds under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, bribe a bank employee, and launder the fraudulent proceeds of the scheme.

Two brothers from Sedona, Arizona, pleaded guilty for conspiring with one another and others to defraud the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) out of nearly $109 million in loans intended to help small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Greenbelt, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Lydia K. Griggsby sentenced Andra Shirone Thompson, 48, of Silver Spring, Maryland, to a year and a day for two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Thompson pled guilty to conspiring to defraud Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act loan programs and his role in a years-long scheme to defraud commercial equipment financing companies

HONOLULU – Acting United States Attorney Kenneth M. Sorenson announced that Martin Kao, 51, of Honolulu, was sentenced today in federal court by Senior United States District Judge Leslie E. Kobayashi to 87 months imprisonment followed by 5 years of supervised released for COVID-relief wire fraud, money laundering, and bank fraud.

HONOLULU – On January 9, 2025, Senior United States District Judge J. Michael Seabright sentenced Christopher A. Mazzei, 46, and Erin V. Mazzei, 43, both of Arroyo Grande, California, to 36 months and 27 months of imprisonment, respectively, for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering in connection with a scheme to defraud the government of forgivable Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan funds intended for Coronavirus-related relief.