Riverview Swindler Sentenced for $82,400 COVID-19 Relief Heist

Tampa, FL – U.S. District Judge Charlene Edwards Honeywell has slammed the gavel down on Alexander Alli (39, Riverview), sentencing him to 13 months in federal prison for conspiracy and wire fraud in connection with his fraudulent receipt of COVID-19 relief funds.

Alli was found guilty by a jury on March 13, 2024, for submitting a fraudulent Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) application to the Small Business Administration (SBA). The application claimed his business was suffering injury due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but in reality, his business had ceased operations prior to the pandemic and was not operational at the time the application was submitted.

According to court documents, Alli and a co-conspirator spent the $82,500 in EIDL funds fraudulently, despite certifying that they would be used for business purposes. The evidence showed that Alli’s false and fraudulent representations caused the SBA to approve and fund the loan.

Alli’s prison sentence is a result of the hard work by the U.S. Department of Justice, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Assistant United States Attorneys Jennifer Peresie and Merrilyn E. Hoenemeyer prosecuted the case.

In May 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The task force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute domestic and international criminal actors involved in pandemic-related fraud.

If you have information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19, you can report it by calling the Justice Department’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.