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SAN DIEGO – Sean Winston, the CEO of Atlas Capital Management, LLC, pleaded guilty in federal court today, admitting that he fraudulently obtained $875,900 from COVID-19 pandemic-era loan programs. According to his plea agreement, Winston held Atlas Capital Management out to the public as an entity that financed business projects, but in fact performed no business and was a shell corporation. Winston admitted that he submitted five loan and loan-forgiveness applications containing false statements to trick lenders into giving his company relief funds.

U.S. District Judge Terence C. Kern sentenced Lauren Michelle Owen, 40, of Jenks, to 27 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release. In January, Owen pleaded guilty to bank fraud, wire fraud, and tax evasion. Judge Kern further ordered Owen to pay more than $1.2 million in restitution.

TRENTON, N.J. – A Florida man admitted fraudulently obtaining over $2.4 million in federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) payments.

SAN DIEGO – Constantin Bobi Sandu, who admitted that he masterminded a scheme to steal more than $5 million in California unemployment benefits intended to help workers affected by the pandemic, was sentenced in federal court today to 40 months in prison.

SAN DIEGO – Eduard Ghiocel and his wife, Floarea Ghiocel, were sentenced in federal court today to 36 months and 30 months, respectively, for laundering $1.4 million in proceeds from dozens of grand thefts, robberies and swindles targeting mostly elderly victims in San Diego County.

BOSTON – Former Massachusetts State Senator Dean Tran was arrested today and charged in federal court in Boston with allegedly scheming to defraud the Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Assistance and collecting income that he failed to report to the IRS.

NEWARK N.J. – A Sussex County, New Jersey, man was sentenced to 36 months in prison for defrauding several financial institutions and illegally obtaining more than $2 million in COVID-19 funding meant to help small businesses impacted by the pandemic.

A federal jury in Boise, Idaho, convicted a Georgia woman today for fraudulently obtaining and misusing a $338,958 Paycheck Protection Program loan that the Small Business Administration (SBA) guaranteed under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.