A Plymouth man was sentenced to three years of supervised release, with six months in home confinement, for submitting multiple fraudulent claims for COVID-19 relief funds, totaling over $150,000 in stolen benefits.
Ferris Brooks, 41, of Plymouth, Massachusetts, pleaded guilty in February 2024 to theft of government property, a charge that stems from his involvement in a COVID-19 relief fund fraud scheme between April and December 2020.
During this time, Brooks submitted applications for government benefits, including an Economic Injury Disaster Loan with the U.S. Small Business Administration, in the name of a fake business. He also submitted applications for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance and filed tax returns for Economic Impact Payments in the names of friends and family that contained false employment information.
Brooks directed payments on the various fraudulent claims to bank accounts that he controlled and split the proceeds with his friends and family. The various fraudulent claims paid out more than $150,000 in pandemic relief funds.
Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy, Jonathan Mellone, Special Agent in Charge of Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, Harry Chavis, Jr., Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation in Boston, and Ketty Larco-Ward, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Boston Division, made the announcement.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Markham of the Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit prosecuted the case. The COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force, established by the Attorney General in May 2021, assisted in the investigation and prosecution of Brooks’ case.
Anyone with information about allegations of attempted COVID-19 relief fund fraud can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.
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Key Facts
- State: Massachusetts
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: Official Source ↗
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