Mohamed Kamara, COVID-19 Relief Funds Fraud, New Jersey 2023

Newark, N.J. – A brazen scheme to defraud the system has come to an end with the guilty plea of Mohamed Kamara, a Maryland man accused of stealing over $2 million in COVID-19 relief funds.

Kamara, 42, of Greenbelt, Maryland, pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud before U.S. District Judge Esther Salas.

According to documents filed in the case, from March 2020 to October 2020, Kamara and others submitted fraudulent applications to the Small Business Administration (SBA) for Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL). The SBA provided EIDLs collectively worth over $750,000, with Kamara receiving or attempting to receive funds in connection with the EIDLs.

Furthermore, between January 2020 and September 2020, Kamara and others submitted fraudulent applications to the state of New Jersey for unemployment insurance benefits using the names, dates of birth, and/or Social Security numbers of other individuals. The state approved and transferred over $1 million, including funds to an account controlled by Kamara.

Sentencing is scheduled for October 10, 2023. If convicted, the charges of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud each carry a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000, or twice the gross profits or gross loss suffered by the victims of his offense, whichever is greatest.

U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger credited the special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge James E. Dennehy in Newark, and special agents of the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, under the direction of Special Agent Jonathan Mellone in New York, with the investigation leading to the guilty plea. He also thanked the FBI Baltimore Field Office, the Small Business Administration, and the New Jersey Department of Labor & Workforce Development for their assistance.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Kogan of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Cybercrime Unit in Newark.

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