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A South Bay man who provided lifestyle and personal development coaching to students in public schools through a non-profit he founded pleaded guilty today to fraudulently applying for millions of dollars in COVID-19 jobless benefits, including by using stolen identities.

An indictment was unsealed yesterday in the Northern District of Texas charging two co-founders of Blueacorn, a lender service provider, in connection with a scheme to fraudulently obtain COVID-19 relief money guaranteed by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A jury found a Columbus man guilty on all counts for leading drug, sex trafficking and financial fraud conspiracies and then attempting to obstruct justice and tamper with witnesses.

MARTINSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA – Two people have been indicted for fraudulently obtaining COVID-19 relief funding on behalf of a West Virginia resident, according to United States Attorney William Ihlenfeld. Kimberly VanKline, 56, of Hyattsville, Maryland, and Rhonda Brown-Moore, 64, of Brooklyn, New York, were indicted yesterday for wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud related to the improper receipt of funds from the COVID Relief Act.

Jason Toland, 44, of Wheatland, was sentenced today to two years and 11 months in prison for submitting false claims against the United States related to COVID-19 pandemic tax credits. Toland was also ordered to pay $2,078,462 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service and the Small Business Administration.

YASIR G. HAMED, 59, of Woodbridge, has been charged by federal criminal complaint with offenses stemming from an alleged scheme to defraud a COVID-19 pandemic relief program of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Geary Simon, 71, of Washington, D.C., entered a guilty plea today to one count of wire fraud in connection with a presidentially declared disaster or emergency and to one count of possession of a firearm by a prohibited person. The guilty plea was entered before U.S. District Judge Dabney L. Friedrich.