Havana/The US Department of Justice accuses the Cubans Adrián Rafael Pupo Pérez and Helen Yaima Leyva Santiestebanwho are fugitives, of committing a $2,400,000 fraud. According to the federal grand jury in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the defendants “are charged with 47 counts of wire fraud, money laundering and conspiracy.”
The investigations indicate that Pupo Pérez and Leyva Santiesteban “submitted 470 fraudulent applications for loans from the Payroll Protection Program (PPP) in the names of more than 100 people throughout the United States.” They also requested support for the forgiveness of debts for economic damages (Eidl) falsely claiming to be self-employed.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche detailed last Monday in a press conference that the Cubans “falsely claimed that they were self-employed and that each had obtained approximately $100,000 in gross income during 2019, that is, before the pandemic, when in reality they were not independent workers.” The reality is that they worked in a meat packing plant.
Blanche confirmed that the couple “has fled the country.” However, he assured that they are working hard to “bring them back.” The authorities indicated that the Cubans intended to obtain 4,500,000 dollars through this modus operandi. Pupo Pérez and Leyva Santiesteban “presented false payroll and income statements, stole identities and hid links with foreigners in their applications.”
The acting attorney general recalled that the goal of the aid programs was to “keep American small businesses afloat” during the pandemic
The acting attorney general recalled that the goal of the aid programs was “to keep American small businesses afloat during government-imposed lockdowns, not to enrich scammers.”
The PPP was a low-interest government loan initiative implemented by the Small Business Administration (SBA) to help firms retain their workers during the Covid-19 pandemic. Beneficiaries also included sole proprietors, independent contractors, and the self-employed.
The defendants, charged during the summer’s surge in cases, “invented companies, submitted false payroll and income statements, stole identities, and hid foreign ties in their applications; but they will now be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
This case is part of the Operation No Dozethe legal offensive promoted by Donald Trump’s Government to combat massive fraud in Covid-19 aid loan programs. So far, felony charges have been filed against nearly 80 people responsible for “intentional losses valued at approximately $100 million.”
