TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — When it comes to COVID-19 relief program fraud, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida has worked since March 2020 to identify and prosecute individuals attempting to take advantage of federal help to enrich themselves.
Some of the money identified as “fraudulently” obtained has been used not for paying workers or keeping businesses afloat, but to buy expensive homes, cars and yachts.
USAO announced the results of efforts in the state to fight COVID-19 “fraud” this week. The Middle District of Florida reported that multiple individuals from Tampa had, collectively, taken nearly $13 million from relief programs.
The announcement included the details and charges from multiple Floridians across the region.
The Middle District’s Asset Recovery Division and various federal agencies have so far “completed the forfeiture” of more than $22.8 million, split between “pandemic fraud proceeds” and “fraudulently obtained” funds from the PPP, Economic Injury Disaster Loans, and Unemployment Insurance, since March 2020.
For the Tampa defendants, $12,901,000 was obtained, collectively due to their various attempts to “defraud the United States.”
USAO’s Tampa Division reported the following defendants, the program they attempted to defraud, and the amount of loss intended.
| Defendant | Charges, Max Imprisonment/Sentence | Type of Fraud | Intended Loss Amount | Case Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Richard Simpkins (47) | Conspiracy to commit bank fraud Maximum Prison Term: 30 Years Illegal monetary transactions Maximum Prison Term: 10 Year | PPP | $1.9M | Charged |
| Joseph Abdo (39) | Wire fraud Maximum Prison Term: 20 Years Illegal monetary transactions Maximum Prison Term: 10 Years | PPP | $500k | Charged |
| Jorge Gutierrez Echeverria (33) | Wire fraud Maximum Prison Term: 20 Years | EIDL | $150k | Charged |
| Steve Moodie (33) Melinda Hernandez (33) | Conspiracy to commit wire fraud Maximum Prison Term: 5 Years Wire fraud Maximum Prison Term: 20 Years Aggravated identity theft Maximum: Prison Term: Two Years Consecutive | UI | $550k | Charged |
| Rolanda Wingfield (39) | Access device fraud Maximum Prison Term: 10 Years Aggravated identity theft Maximum: Prison Term: Two Years Consecutive | UI | $135k | Adjudicated |
| Keith Nicoletta (49) | Conspiracy to commit money laundering Maximum Prison Term: 20 Years | PPP | $1.9M | Adjudicated |
| Randy Jones (34) | Wire fraud Maximum Prison Term: 20 Years Aggravated identity theft Maximum: Prison Term: Two Years Consecutive | EIDL/UI | $250k | Adjudicated |
| Rosenide Venant (37) | Conspiracy to commit money laundering Maximum Prison Term: 20 Years | EIDL/PPP | $413k | Adjudicated |
| Julio Lugo (45) | Conspiracy to commit money laundering Maximum Prison Term: 20 Years | EIDL/PPP | $4.4M | Adjudicated |
| Louis Thornton, III (63) | Wire Fraud Sentence Imposed: 42 months in federal prison | EIDL/PPP | $815k | Sentenced |
| Kary Stevenson (48) Corey Quinn (35) | Conspiracy to commit access device fraud and aggravated identity theft Sentence Imposed: 5 years, 10 months in federal prison (Stevenson) Sentence Imposed:7 years in federal prison (Quinn) | UI | $1M | Sentenced |
| Bridgitte Keim (52) | Bank fraud Sentence Imposed: 2 years in federal prison | PPP | $588k | Sentenced |
| Wayne Ganaway (47) | Conspiracy to commit wire fraud Sentence Imposed: 4 years in federal prison | EIDL | $300k | Sentenced |
The USAO is still working to identify and bring to justice other individuals committing “fraud” efforts “related to COVID-19” relief programs.
“For example, in the summer of 2020, consumers complained about websites that were falsely claiming to sell personal protection equipment for the COVID-19 virus,” USAO said. “Agents from the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General identified three men in Vietnam who were using hundreds of web pages to steal money from consumers seeking to purchase PPE.”
USAO said those men were now in custody in Vietnam and facing charges there.
Additionally, Physician Partners of America, a Tampa company, was ordered to pay $1.3 million in penalties to “to resolve our claim that the defendants improperly applied for a PPP loan of over $5.9 million while engaged in unlawful Medicare overbilling.” Other cases abound.
The Middle District of Florida COVID-19 Fraud Task Force “has prosecuted 28 defendants for fraud schemes designed to exploit federal programs created or expanded to address the COVID-19 pandemic…These defendants collectively sought to defraud the United States of over $35 million,” according to USAO.
According to USAO, Don V. Cisternino of Chuluota “fraudulently secured more than $7.2 million” in Paycheck Protection Program loans, then used it to buy a 12,579 square foot home in Seminole County, with seven bedrooms, 11 bathrooms, a four-car garage, theater room, resort-style pool and spa area, tennis courts, and a 5-stall horse barn, on more than twelve acres” of land. The house cost him $3.5 million.
Cisternino also “spent the funds for unauthorized purposes and for his own personal enrichment, including the purchase of Lincoln Navigator, Maserati, and Mercedes-Benz vehicles,” according to USAO. He was indicted in Orlando and arraigned April 29. USAO said he was extradited from Croatia.
A Fort Myers man, Casey David Crowther, was sentenced for “making a false statement to a lending institution” and “money laundering,” after committing “fraud and mortgage fraud” offenses with PPP loans.
Crowther reportedly bought a 40-foot “catamaran boat” for almost $700,000 after receiving a $2.1 million PPP loan. He also paid $100,000 to a former business partner of his, then “concealed the scheme by providing false explanations for the expenditures to his bank.” He told officials he had used the payment to pay his former partner as a “payroll” expense, and labeled the boat purchase as “equipment.”
Crowther also bought a $1.3 million waterfront home in St. James City, using false bank statements to justify the loan.
As a result, Crowther was sentenced to three years and one month in federal prison and ordered to forfeit the boat, and a collective $3,369,563.58.
