District of Massachusetts | Stoughton Man Sentenced for Bank Fraud Scheme Related to COVID-19 Pandemic Assistance
BOSTON – A Stoughton man was sentenced today in federal court in Boston in connection with a fraudulent scheme to obtain COVID-19-related small business loans from several financial institutions.
Yves Montima, 55, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Denise J. Casper to three years of supervised release, with the first 10 months to be served in home confinement. Montima was also ordered to pay $239,595 in restitution. In November 2021, Montima pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud.
Montima participated in a scheme that obtained over $220,000 in proceeds through fraudulent PPP loan applications submitted between April 2020 and April 2021. Montima and his co-conspirator submitted 12 fraudulent PPP loan applications, both in their own names and in the names of others, at several financial institutions. Montima and his co-conspirator also received kickback payments from individuals on whose behalf they submitted fraudulent PPP loan applications.
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) created a temporary loan program directed at small businesses called the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Independent contractors were eligible to apply for PPP loans, which were processed by private financial institutions and fully guaranteed by the U.S. Small Business Administration. If an independent contractor used the loan funds for approved purposes, such as payroll, the loan could be forgiven by the financial institution and paid for by the U.S. Small Business Administration.
Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy and Andrew Murphy, Special Agent in Charge of the United States Secret Service, Boston Field Office made the announcement. Valuable assistance in the investigation was provided by the U.S. Postal Service, Massachusetts State Police and the Boston Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christopher J. Markham and Philip C. Cheng of the Criminal Division prosecuted the case.
On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, among other methods, augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. For more information on the Department’s response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus.
Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 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.
The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The remaining defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
