The Justice Department issued the following statement.
A Jackson man pleaded guilty to wire fraud in connection with his submission of a false COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) application.
According to court documents, Wesley Murray, Sr., 54, submitted to the United States Small Business Association (“SBA”) a false EIDL application containing material misrepresentations. In reliance on his certification that he would use the EIDL funds for business purposes, the SBA awarded Murray approximately $72,400 in COVID-19 relief funds. Murray acknowledged that he used these funds for purely personal expenses. Pursuant to the terms of his plea agreement with the United States, Murray agreed to make full restitution to the SBA.
Murray is scheduled to be sentenced on January 10, 2024, and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. A federal district judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
U.S. Attorney Todd W. Gee of the Southern District of Mississippi and Acting Inspector General Stephen Ravas of the AmeriCorps Office of Inspector General made the announcement.
The case was investigated by the AmeriCorps Office of Inspector General. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kimberly T. Purdie.
On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, among other methods, augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. For more information on the Department’s response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/
Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/
9 comments:
I hope this task force is looking into Jackson Public Schools. They received millions in COVID relief funds that got doled out to sketchy after school programs that lined a lot of pockets.
Karma….she is a bitch!
It never stops-
There is no "LAW" when the law "BREAKS the LAW"!!!!!!
The scope of fraud committed as a result of the government Covid programs is beyond massive.
Billions and billions of dollars were stolen by businesses and citizens who did not need it. One more government scam.
Covid relief fraud - never saw that coming. Not!
If you received Covid unemployment benefits and kept working for cash and didn’t report it, you were committing fraud also. And you’re a liar and a thief, but you probably already knew that.
There seems to be a pattern here. 17 deputies at Broward Co. Sheriff's Dept. in Florida were just indicted for Covid fraud. That's the Coward of Broward department.
"If you received Covid unemployment benefits and kept working for cash and didn’t report it, you were committing fraud also."
That was the case before we ever heard the word 'Covid'. Any unreported, cash wages earned while drawing unemployment is prosecutable criminal fraud.
On a related note, untold millions of dollars, fraudulently claimed and provided, passed through the Unemployment Insurance system in this state.
Post a Comment