According to a Department of Justice (DOJ) press release dated August 18, 2021, Hunter VanPelt, aka Ellen Corkrum, 49, pleaded guilty to perpetrating a scheme to fraudulently obtain more than $7.9 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

According to a Department of Justice (DOJ) press release from May 14, 2021, three Peruvian nationals pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud thousands of Spanish-speaking U.S. residents. Omar Cuzcano Marroquin, 32, Jerson Renteria Gonzales, 37, and Evelyng Milla Campuzano, 35, each of Lima, Peru used Peruvian call centers to extort Spanish-speaking individuals in the US for money, threatening them with arrest and deportation if they did not comply.

According to a Department of Justice (DOJ) press release dated April 12, 2021, a San Antonio man, 58-year-old Kevin Charles Kowalis, was charged with four counts of mail fraud and four counts of misrepresentation of Indian goods under the Indian Arts and Crafts Act.

A Department of Justice (DOJ) press release dated March 26, 2021 announced an update on DOJ’s efforts to combat crimes related to COVID-19 relief fraud, such as illegal schemes surrounding the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program and Unemployment Insurance (UI) programs.

The first civil settlement to resolve fraud allegations against the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) has been entered, according to a January 12, 2021 press release from the Department of Justice. The PPP was part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act to provide up to $349 billion to small businesses and corporations to keep them afloat. In December 2020, Congress authorized nearly $285 billion in additional Paycheck Protection Program funding.

Federal law enforcement has taken action to halt the conduct of over 2,300 “money mules” in the last two months, the Department of Justice recently announced. These actions occurred in every state in the country as part of the third annual Money Mule Initiative. This year’s effort almost quadrupled the 600 actions U.S. law enforcement took last year against money mules.

Hitesh Madhubhai Patel, an Indian national, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for wire fraud conspiracy and general conspiracy to commit identification fraud, access device fraud, money laundering, and impersonation of a federal officer or employee.

This week (November 15-21) is International Fraud Awareness Week, which is dedicated to the global effort to minimize the impact of fraud by promoting anti-fraud awareness and education. This event, held by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), is a time to share information about preventing fraud, identity theft, and security with peers, coworkers, and family members.

Texas billionaire Robert Brockman was charged with tax evasion, wire fraud, money laundering, and other crimes in service of a $2 billion tax fraud scheme, the Department of Justice said at a recent press conference. Over the course of 20 years, Brockman allegedly used offshore bank accounts to hide his money with the help of a private equity firm CEO named Robert Smith. Brockman is the CEO of Reynolds & Reynolds, a software company in Ohio.

A Department of Justice (DOJ) press release dated September 30, 2020 announced the largest health care fraud and opioid enforcement action in Department of Justice history with the indictment of 345 defendants across 51 federal districts, including more than 100 doctors, nurses, and other licensed medical professionals.

Nine pharmacists were charged in three separate indictments for their roles in a $12.1 million health care fraud scheme executed in Detroit and Southern Ohio. The pharmacists were each charged with various count relating to health care fraud and wire fraud and conspiracy to commit health care and wire fraud.

A former Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) public affairs officer has pleaded guilty to defrauding at least a dozen companies of over $4.4 million by falsely posing as a covert officer for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Garrison Kenneth Courtney of Tampa, Florida claimed to be part of a task force involving various components of the United States Intelligence Community and the Department of Defense.