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Sussex County Man Sentenced for $2.1M COVID Relief Fraud
· Confirmed
In Short: The fraud began in April 2020, and Mathurin faced up to 20 years in federal prison for each wire fraud count and up to 10 years for each illegal monetary transaction count.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey, Mathurin participated in a scheme to defraud lenders and the Small Business Administration (SBA) to obtain federal COVID-19 emergency relief money by submitting 15 fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) applications on behalf of businesses he claimed to own.
In addition to the prison sentence, Mathurin received credit for 155 days already served in the Morris County Jail.
Sukhdeo has also agreed to forfeit $413,900.
The Department of Justice’s National Fraud Enforcement Division is prosecuting the case as part of its federal benefits-fraud work.
The Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division is prosecuting the case as part of its federal benefits-fraud work.
The sources have not established the exact dates when the fraud schemes began for all individuals involved, but they agree on the total amounts defrauded and the penalties imposed.
In a separate case, Marisela Nuno, 53, of Los Angeles, California, faces three counts of wire fraud and one count of money laundering after a federal grand jury in the Central District of California indicted her on November 4.
If convicted, Nuno faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on each count of wire fraud and 10 years in prison on the count of money laundering.
The Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division is prosecuting the case.
The Small Business Administration created the PPP and EIDL programs to provide emergency assistance to qualifying businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division is prosecuting the case.
The Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division is prosecuting the case.
What's confirmed
- Small Business Administration in a COVID-relief scam.
- Jeffrey Skinner pleaded guilty in federal court to five counts of wire fraud and one count of engaging in monetary transactions involving criminally derived property, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio.
- BUCYRUS, OH ( CRAWFORD COUNTY NOW )—A 56-year-old Bucyrus man has pleaded guilty to fraudulently obtaining more than $890,000 in federal pandemic relief funds and using the money for personal expenses.
- The programs were administered by the Small Business Administration to provide emergency assistance to qualifying businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Fraud can be reported through the Department of Justice’s Action Center at justice.gov/action-center/report-crime-or-submit-complaint.
- Marisela Nuno, 53, faces three counts of wire fraud and one count of money laundering after a federal grand jury in the Central District of California indicted her Tuesday, the Justice Department announced on November 4.
- In a separate case that drew earlier coverage from The Dallas Express, federal prosecutors charged April Watson, 50, with fraud and money laundering involving approximately $680,492 in pandemic loans.
- The Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division is prosecuting it as part of its federal benefits-fraud work.
- A Sussex County man has been sentenced to more than six years in federal prison for fraudulently obtaining over $2.1 million in COVID-19 relief funds intended to assist struggling businesses during the pandemic.
- Following a four-day trial in May 2026, a federal jury convicted Mathurin of three counts of wire fraud and one count of money laundering.
- If convicted, she faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on each count of wire fraud, and 10 years in prison on the count of money laundering.
- On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the Fraud Division.
What's still developing
- A Los Angeles woman was facing federal charges Wednesday for allegedly bilking $18 million from a pair of COVID-relief programs.
- Congress authorized the relief programs during the COVID-19 emergency to help eligible businesses cover operating expenses.
- Federal prosecutors unveiled a new pandemic-relief fraud indictment Wednesday, accusing a Los Angeles woman of seeking more than $18 million in taxpayer-backed assistance through allegedly false business and payroll records.
- Trial Attorney Ariel Glasner of the Fraud Division’s Public Trust and Financial Integrity Section and Trial Attorney Edward Emokpae of the Criminal Division’s White Collar and Corporate Enforcement Section are prosecuting the case.
- NEWTON, N.J. (Sussex County) — A 36-year-old Hardyston Township man has been sentenced to five years in state prison after pleading guilty to unlawfully possessing a handgun, according to Sussex County Prosecutor Daniel M.
- On Monday, November 2, the United States Attorney’s Office East District of North Carolina announced in a press release that Pamela Humphrey, a Fayetteville Tech Community College Professor, had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
- She faces up to 20 years in prison on each of the wire fraud counts, and up to 10 years in prison on the money laundering allegation. 2UrbanGirls has been cited in Daily Breeze, Daily News, Inglewood Today, Intersections South LA, KCRW, KPCC, Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Wave, LA Weekly, LA Watts Times, Mercury News, New York Times, Orange County Register, Sports Illustrated, The Atlantic, and Washington Post.
- (KWCH) — A Johnson County, Kansas, businessman was sentenced to 19 years in prison for running one of the largest telemedicine fraud schemes ever, the U.S.
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- A Los Angeles woman has been charged in an $18 million coronavirus relief fraud scheme after allegedly spending the funds on private property, business startup costs, and doling it out to relatives.
- WATCH — VP Vance Delivers Remarks on Combating Fraud: Earlier this year, an official government watchdog located nearly $1 billion in COVID-era unemployment benefits that were in danger of falling into the hands of fraudsters, Breitbart News reported.
- In addition, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz said in April that Medicare and Medicaid fraud had reached such high levels partly due to COVID relief, according to Breitbart News.