Four Charged for Roles in $178 Million Covid Fraud Conspiracy

An Arizona man and three associates have been charged for conspiring to devise and carry out a scheme that attempted to defraud the US Small Business Administration out of at least $178 million though the Paycheck Protection Program, the Justice Department announced Tuesday.

According to the DOJ, Eric Karnezis carried out a scheme whereby he conspired with recruiters, including Fredrico Williams, to gather fraudulent business information from customers, including Lynisha Wells and Nikkia Bennett, and used the information to submit fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program loan applications to the Small Business Administration. To facilitate the scheme, Karnezis and his co-conspirators ...