Miami FL area man convicted of COVID-19 rescue fraud
Miami-Dade County Network Director Willie Curry lost no pay during the COVID-19 pandemic. The facts haven’t stopped Curry from asking the Small Business Association for a COVID-19 relief loan and persistently trying to get financial institutions to accept the $ 160,000 sent by the SBA.
Curry’s attempt will cost him a slice of his life in federal prison for six months, followed by one year of supervised release, the first six months of house arrest. That’s the sentence Curry, 58, received from U.S. District Court Judge James King on Wednesday. Curry pleaded guilty to wire fraud in September.
“In determining the sentence, Senior Judge King took into consideration Curry’s seven years of honorable service in the United States Army,” the United States Department of Justice said.
Long the national leader in health insurance fraud, South Florida has shown its diversity in white-collar crime by being the # 1 in COVID-19 rescue fraud. No district attorney’s office in the United States has charged more people in COVID-19 rescue fraud than the 60 in South Florida. These 60 people charged represent $ 80 million in loan applications.
Curry, computers and what COVID-19 didn’t cost him
As for Curry, his company, Will Curry Computers, does exist. But in his request for the Coronavirus Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), he claimed it was established in 2015, had 10 employees, gross annual revenues in June 2020 of $ 755,416 and that its sold goods cost about $ 170,664.
In fact, Curry’s guilty plea was admitted, he started the company in 2020, and he was the only employee. The Dade County Federal Credit Union rejected attempts by the SBA to wire $ 10,000 and then $ 150,000 to Curry’s account there. Curry tried to have the money transferred to his Bank of America account and the SBA refused.
In 1994, Curry pleaded guilty in Broward County to “unlawful compensation” – this falls under “corruption; Public Service Abuse ”which is part of Florida law – and was granted a one-year probationary period and was ordered to pay $ 13,000 in restitution.
This story was originally published November 21, 2021 11:31 am.
