Source: United States Department of Justice
The Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division announced the following actions from across the country to hold individuals accountable for schemes that attempted or succeeded in defrauding the American taxpayers out of over $340 million.
“The National Fraud Enforcement Division is committed to prosecuting anyone who steals from American taxpayers. Over the past seven days the Department of Justice has taken enforcement action in fraud schemes totaling over $340 million, with loss or intended loss amounts in individual cases ranging from $54,000 to over $100 million. No matter the amount, we are steadfast in our effort to eliminate fraud,” said Colin McDonald, Assistant Attorney General for the National Fraud Enforcement Division.
Five people were arrested yesterday in Kentucky, Indiana, and Colorado on federal charges out of the Western District of Kentucky for their role in a scheme to fraudulently obtain approximately $1.6 million in COVID-19 relief funds. The indictment charges two individuals—Kaelynn Greene, 31, and Camden Newton, 32—with wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and money laundering, all related to fraudulently obtaining COVID-19 financial assistance program funds. The indictment also charges Betty Walker a/k/a Betty Bailey, 39, Breanna Patterson, 32, and Jordan Greene, 34, with conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Thursday, April 16
A former teacher pleaded guilty in federal court in San Diego admitting that she conspired with others to launder millions of dollars of health care fraud proceeds and paid $3.7 million in unlawful kickbacks. In total, Valenzuela and her co-conspirators billed Medicare nearly $51 million and were paid approximately $20 million, ultimately laundering at least $14 million dollars of Medicare proceeds
A federal grand jury in the District of Maryland jury indicted (link) a former Social Security Administration (SSA) employee in connection with a social security disability theft scheme. Through the scheme, Corbett received $116,537.62 in SSI disability payments.
Wednesday, April 15
In St. Louis, Missouri a chiropractor who committed healthcare fraud and issued fraudulent prescriptions for powerful pain medication (including 94,971 oxycodone pills) and other drugs with no legitimate medical purpose was sentenced to more than eight years in prison and ordered to repay $4.7 million to Medicaid, Medicare and Tricare.
A Seaside, Oregon, woman was sentenced to 28 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $581,283 in restitution for submitting fraudulent pandemic unemployment applications, falsely claiming over two dozen employees, and causing the government to pay her over half a million dollars in benefits.
In Arizona, Leslie Victor Gentry, a Peoria man pleaded guilty to submitting 14 false Form 941 tax returns claiming false COVID-related tax credits based on fictitious wages paid to fictitious employees. Through the false filings, Gentry fraudulently sought and received more than $1.8 million.
On Wednesday, a New Mexico man was sentenced to 41 months in prison for submitting 21 fraudulent unemployment insurance applications using stolen identities during the pandemic. As a result of his fraudulent activities, he received more than $177,000. https://www.justice.gov/usao-nm/pr/belen-man-sentenced-unemployment-fraud-scheme
In Alabama, a Pennsylvania woman was sentenced to nearly 14 years in prison for her role in a $2 million tax fraud scheme.
An Orlando, Florida man was sentenced to over six years in federal prison for bank fraud and aggravated identity theft involving pandemic unemployment assistance. The court also ordered him to forfeit $549,375.50 in proceeds from his bank fraud scheme.
Tuesday, April 14
A Florida nursing assistant was sentenced to nine years in prison and two years of supervised release for his role in an $11.4 million health care fraud and wire fraud conspiracy in which hundreds of Medicare beneficiaries were sent thousands of orthotic braces they did not need.
An illegal alien from Mexico residing in Houston has admitted to theft of government funds and aggravated identity theft. Using a stolen identity, she submitted immigration petitions on behalf of family members and obtained disability and Medicare benefits, receiving more than $278,000 in benefits from 2013 through February 2026.
Monday, April 13
A Detroit resident pleaded guilty for his role in an extensive unemployment insurance and Paycheck Protection Program fraud scheme, involving $1.9 million in losses.
A Naples, Florida, tax preparer pleaded guilty to defrauding the IRS of more than $65,000
Tobyhanna, Pennsylvania, man was sentenced to 30 months in prison and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $352,155 for misappropriating covid relief funds and wire fraud related charges.
Friday, April 10
A Slidell, Louisiana, man was sentenced for conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud in connection with a scheme to bill Medicare for medically unnecessary cancer genetic tests. This scheme resulted in over $6.6 million in false and fraudulent claims submitted to Medicare.
Federal law enforcement arrested West Bloomfield, Michigan resident who is charged by complaint with wire fraud and money laundering for allegedly defrauding financial institutions and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), by applying for more than $5 million in loans across six applications submitted to Paycheck Protection Program (PPP)
A federal judge sentenced a Robeson County, North Carolina woman, to 10 months in prison for her role in submitting a false application to the Small Business Administration’s to receive a $150,000 Economic Injury Disaster Loan.
Thursday, April 9
A Minneapolis man was sentenced to 43 months in prison for his role in a $250 million fraud scheme that exploited a federally funded child nutrition program during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Two more defendants—Suleman Yusuf Mohamed and his brother Gandi Yusuf Mohamed—have pleaded guilty for their roles in the Feeding Our Future fraud scheme. The conspirators received over $10 million meant to feed children.
A Columbia, South Carolina woman pleaded guilty to theft of public money by collecting pension benefits of a dead relative that she was not entitled to collect. The investigation determined that she collected $54,450 in pension payments after the death of her relative.
A Lynn, Massachusetts man pleaded guilty in federal court in Boston to receiving stolen Social Security benefits and making false statements. He received approximately $63,959 in stolen Social Security benefits from June 2019 through June 2025 that were intended for a beneficiary that had died.
A Florida Certified Public Accountant pleaded guilty to evading payment of more than $2.2 million of income tax liabilities.
An Iowa farmer was sentenced to more than 10 years in prison for cheating federal taxpayers out of more than $1.7 Million.
On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division. The core mission of the Fraud Division is to zealously investigate and prosecute those who steal or fraudulently misuse taxpayer dollars. Department of Justice efforts to combat fraud support President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs.