Columbus man pleads guilty to COVID relief fraud as DOJ targets $245 million nationwide
A Columbus man pleaded guilty to federal fraud charges involving approximately $440,000 in losses as the Justice Department expands a nationwide crackdown on fraud involving COVID-era small business relief programs.
Pierre-Maurice D. Harris, 36, pleaded guilty this summer to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and money laundering, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio announced this week.
Federal authorities said Transportation Security Administration officers stopped Harris while he was traveling to Miami carrying $25,000 in cash and seven debit cards bearing other people’s names.
Investigators later connected stolen identities to fraudulent claims involving Ohio and California Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, the Paycheck Protection Program and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program.
Harris’ conviction was included this week in Operation No Doze, a nationwide enforcement effort led by the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division, the Small Business Administration and the SBA Office of Inspector General.
Federal prosecutors said enforcement actions during the summer surge involved more than 160 defendants and approximately $245 million in intended losses to taxpayers.
Nearly 80 defendants were newly charged in cases involving approximately $100 million in intended losses. Another roughly 43 defendants pleaded guilty in cases involving approximately $44 million, while about 40 defendants were sentenced in cases involving nearly $100 million, according to the Justice Department.
“The case we are announcing today as part of this nationwide surge is now the second pandemic loan relief fraud case that we have announced this summer,” U.S. Attorney Dominick S. Gerace II said in a release. “Our district, in conjunction with the National Fraud Enforcement Division and our federal and state investigative partners, remains resolute in its determination to fight all forms of taxpayer-funded fraud.”
Harris faces up to 20 years in prison on the conspiracy charge and up to 20 years for money laundering. Aggravated identity theft carries a mandatory additional two-year prison term.
IRS Criminal Investigation, the Department of Labor Office of Inspector General, the U.S. Secret Service, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service investigated the case.
The Southern District of Ohio has also pursued a separate case involving more than $1.4 million in COVID-19 relief funds.
As Ohio.News previously reported, federal prosecutors announced charges in June against four defendants accused of providing false information on Paycheck Protection Program loan applications and submitting fraudulent tax documents to obtain relief funds.
In a release, Attorney General Todd Blanche said defendants targeted during the summer operation allegedly used methods including fictitious businesses, false payroll and revenue information, stolen identities and concealed foreign ties to obtain federal relief funds.
“Pandemic loan relief was meant to keep American small businesses alive during government lockdowns—not line the pockets of fraudsters,” Blanche said.
The Small Business Administration said it has also suspended 870,000 borrowers associated with $39 billion in suspected fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program and COVID Economic Injury Disaster Loan activity.
In a release, SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler said the agency is sending demand letters to suspected fraudsters and warned that it could refer unpaid debts to Treasury collections or federal law enforcement.
The Justice Department created its National Fraud Enforcement Division in April to investigate and prosecute fraud involving federal programs.
