Two Georgia residents have been sentenced for allegedly stealing millions of dollars in government funds meant to help businesses struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic. They are also accused of stealing from multiple state unemployment insurance programs.
Ikponmwosa Erhinmwinrose, 39, of Atlanta, Georgia, and Nyerhovwo Presley Agbure, 34, of Atlanta, Georgia, were each sentenced in connection to a fraud ring that stole millions in government funds and victimized thousands of people nationwide.
Erhinmwinrose will spend 17 years in federal prison after a federal jury in Denver convicted him on six counts of wire fraud, three counts of aggravated identity theft, one count of wire fraud conspiracy, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Agbure will spend 57 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. Two other codefendants await sentencing.
Court documents say that Erhinmwinrose and other conspirators including Agbure, applied for more than $90 million in government benefits and stole more than $7.6 million in government benefits from the Paycheck Protection Program, Economic Injury Disaster Loan program, and multiple state unemployment insurance programs including from the state of Colorado, and tax refunds.
The PPP and EIDL are economic relief programs launched by the federal government in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
It’s beginning to look like COVID $$ was created to make a few Democrats rich.
say it isnt so