Covid-19 crime in Massachusetts.
A former Saugus resident who now lives in Boca Raton, FL got a $2.5 million Payroll Protection Plan loan through a fraudulent application and used the money on cars, a new house and buying cryptocurrency, rather than supporting the 154 employees he didn't actually have, the US Attorney's office in Boston charges. Read more.
A federal judge yesterday sentenced Lily Nguyen to two years in federal prison for her part in a scheme to grab the personal information of more than 100 people to create bogus accounts on the Massachusetts pandemic unemployment portal, the US Attorney's office reports. Read more.
Surveillance photos via TPD.
Transit Police have released photos of a guy they say responded to being barred from a bus at the Massachusetts Avenue stop for refusing to put on a mask by kicking the bus door, causing a a spider-web crack that forced the bus out of service. Read more.
A Dorchester woman who can often be found in the morning yelling outside Mayor Wu's house in Roslindale switched things up yesterday and tried to interrupt a City Hall press conference about Marathon preparations - only to get arrested on charges of assault and battery on a police officer and disrupting the peace, the Suffolk County District Attorney's office reports. Read more.
A federal judge yesterday sentenced a Stoneham man to three years in prison and ordered him to repay the $526,423 the government says he stole from the state pandemic unemployment fund using other people's purloined ID information, the US Attorney's office reports. Read more.
From a pizzeria owner charged with getting bogus pandemic loans to become a gentleman alpaca farmer in Vermont to the New Jersey comedian who tried some funny business with Massachusetts pandemic unemployment assistance, the US Attorney's office in Boston has been busy over the past couple of years with prosecutions for various pandemic related frauds. Here are some of the cases: Read more.
A federal jury today convicted Elijah Majak Buoi, 40, on four counts of wire fraud and one count of making a false statement to a financial institution, the US Attorney's office reports. Read more.
A federal judge yesterday sentenced Shane Spierdowis, 31, of Hull, to two years in federal prison for collecting pandemic economic funds he had no right to - because they were based on shell companies, and he claimed money for a period that included the time he was in prison for violating probation on an earlier securities-fraud conviction. Read more.
The Supreme Judicial Court today ordered that a Covid-19-based ban on jury trials continue through Feb.14.
In a statement, Chief Justice Kimberly Budd said: Read more.
A Wayne, MI man with a penchant for $700 bottles of booze and $300 pairs of shoes was arrested this week on charges he was using fake IDs to collect $275,000 in bogus unemployment from nine states, including Massachusetts. Read more.
The Supreme Judicial Court today ordered a halt to all jury trials in state courts until Jan. 31 due to the rapid rise in Covid-19 cases, and the potential difficulties of conducting trials in courtrooms crowded with lots of people.
Courts otherwise remain open, but the court continues to urge all parties to handle matters via Zoom or telephone calls whenever possible.
Boston Police report they are looking for a man they say went berserk inside N & M Market, 2359 Washington St. in Roxbury when told he had to put on a mask and then, when confronted by the owner, pepper sprayed him. Read more.
Boston Police report a Vermont crack dealer with a violent past in Roxbury will be arraigned today on charges he fatally shot Arthur Rashaad Miles on Washington Street in Egleston Square on Sept. 8. Read more.
Omar Thompson, king of comedy but no criminal mastermind.
A Paterson, NJ man who runs a Harlem comedy club pleaded guilty today to a federal charge of wire fraud for helping to suck money out of the Massachusetts pandemic unemployment fund, the US Attorney's office in Boston reports. Read more.
A Lawrence woman who used a notebook full of people's addresses and other personal information to collect more than $360,000 in fraudulent Massachusetts pandemic unemployment claims was sentenced to three years in federal prison yesterday, the US Attorney's office reports. Read more.
Shane Spierdowis, 31, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud yesterday in connection with more than $190,000 in loans he got last year to help retain the employees he claimed he had for a company that turned out not to exist, over a period of time in which he was locked up for violating parole on an earlier securities-fraud conviction. Read more.
An Ipswich man pleaded guilty today to 33 fraud-related counts, admitting he screwed everybody from small businesses to the IRS - and that even after he was indicted last fall, he put in for $70,000 worth of bogus claims for coronavirus payroll relief. Read more.
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
