Perth Amboy Woman Pleads Guilty to $194K COVID-19 Relief Scam

In a move that’s all too familiar, a Middlesex County woman has pleaded guilty to scamming the system out of nearly $200,000 in COVID-19 relief funds.

Damaris Valerio, a 42-year-old Perth Amboy resident, admitted to fraudulently obtaining Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL), Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), and pandemic unemployment insurance benefits between April 2020 and December 2021.

Valerio, also known as Damaris Tineo Abreu, submitted false and fraudulent applications, inflating her business’s revenues, payroll expenses, and number of employees. The scheme netted her $194,212 in relief funds, which she then diverted for her personal gain.

The wire fraud charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000, or twice the gross gain to the defendant or gross loss to the victim, whichever is greater. The money laundering charge counts carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, or twice the gross gain to the defendant or loss to the victim, whichever is greatest.

Valerio is scheduled to be sentenced on October 28, 2025. In the meantime, she’s facing a maximum of 30 years in prison if convicted on both counts.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Ricky J. Patel in Newark, as well as the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, Northeast Region, and the Social Security Administration, Office of the Inspector General’s Boston-New York Field Division.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Benjamin D. Bleiberg and Fatime Meka Cano of the Economic Crimes Unit in Newark.

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted COVID-19 relief fraud can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

The District of New Jersey COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Strike Force is one of five strike forces established throughout the United States by the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate and prosecute COVID-19 fraud.

Defense counsel for Valerio is John Russo, Esq., of New York.

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