Omaha man sentenced for fraud in inflating claims for COVID-19 aid part of nation’s largest case of fraud Nebraska … – Nebraska Examiner

LINCOLN A federal judge has ordered an Omaha man to pay $196,029 in restitution after he and an associate fraudulently inflated revenue and salary claims to obtain COVID-19 relief.

Richard L. Kelly, 61, of Omaha, was also sentenced to serve five years of probation by U.S. District Court Judge Brian Buescher. As a condition of probation, Kelly must repay at least $1,000 a month to the federal government.

According to the U.S. Attorneys Office in Omaha, Kelly and an associate applied for $675,095 in aid from the Paycheck Protection Program and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program. They received $189,997.

However, an investigation by a COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force, assisted by the FBI and Small Business Administration, found that Kelly had lied about how much he was paying employees and about his business revenue.

In January, the FBI said an estimated $136 billion in fraud had occured in the emergency loan program and $64 billion in the PPP.

In addition, there was an estimated $100 billion in fraud in another COVID-19 relief effort, the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation program.

Combined, the losses constitute the largest case of fraud in history, the FBI said.

Anyone with information about a suspected case of fraud is asked to call a hotline, 1-866-720-5721, or file a complaint form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX

SUBSCRIBE

Here is the original post:

Omaha man sentenced for fraud in inflating claims for COVID-19 aid part of nation's largest case of fraud Nebraska ... - Nebraska Examiner