William Chadwick, a 63-year-old man from Akron, laundered $228,284.09 in funds stolen from COVID-19 relief programs between May 2020 and August 2022, according to the settlement.
The man made and argued a deal guilty in June to one charge of money laundering in the “romance fraud scheme,” and that was it sentenced to 15 months in prison in September, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Colorado.
More than 100 unemployment insurance claims were filed on behalf of other people from addresses associated with Chadwick, totaling more than $1.4 million in approved benefits, the document said.
Chadwick also received a $20,000 Paycheck Protection Program business loan for a fake business and nearly $70,000 in emergency rental assistance, according to the document.
He used the stolen money to send cryptocurrency and gift cards to an unknown woman he met online, federal officials said.
“Laundering money stolen from the federal government is a crime against every hardworking, taxpaying citizen of the United States,” Colorado U.S. Attorney Peter McNeilly said in a statement. “Our office is committed to prosecuting those who seek to profit from fraud against the government.”
Law enforcement officers interviewed Chadwick at his home in June 2022, and the man voluntarily handed over more than a dozen unemployment insurance cards, receipts for money he withdrew from ATMs and more than 100 gift cards purchased with the stolen money, according to the settlement.
Chadwick continued to launder the stolen money for at least two more months, federal officials said.The maximum penalty for the money laundering charge to which Chadwick pleaded guilty is 20 years in prison and $500,000 in restitution.
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