COVID-19 Federal Relief Funds

Evan Graves, 40, of Alva, pleaded guilty to wire fraud in connection with a $1.35 million COVID relief fraud scheme and now faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison. A sentencing date for Graves has not yet been set. As part of his guilty plea, Graves has agreed to forfeit approximately $1,355,600 and six properties in Fort Myers that he had purchased or funded using proceeds of his fraud.

Denis Casseus, 44, Cape Coral, was sentenced to two years in federal prison for bank fraud and an illegal monetary transaction as part of a Paycheck Protection Program fraud scheme.

Karen Moore is publisher of Southwest Florida Business Today. After a recent story about the American Rescue Plan funds distributed in Lee County, listeners requested Moore go into more detail about the result of how those funds were used She spoke with Carolyn Johnson with Goodwill Industries of Southwest Florida, which was one of five other regional organizations to administer the funds.

A grand jury returned an indictment charging Timothy Craig Jolloff, 46, and Lisa Ann Jolloff, 56, both of Fort Myers),with wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and illegal monetary transactions. Timothy Jolloff is also charged with multiple counts of bank fraud. The chart below summarizes the indictment charges and maximum penalties as to each defendant.The indictment also notifies the defendants that the United States intends to forfeit a 2019 GMC truck and approximately $3,403,265, which are alleged to be traceable to proceeds of the offense.

An Associated Press analysis found that fraudsters potentially stole more than $280 billion in COVID-19 relief funding; another $123 billion was wasted or misspent. The loss represents 10 percent of the $4.2 trillion the U.S. government has disbursed in pandemic aid.

The convictions and sentence of Casey David Crowther, 37, of Fort Myers, on fraud charges related to Covid relief funds have been affirmed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in Atlanta in one of the first federal appeals involving a fraudulent COVID-relief loan case.

A Naples man will head to prison for more than seven years on charges of wire fraud, bank fraud, illegal monetary transactions, and possession of ammunition by a convicted felon and repay $2.6 million in a scheme related to COVID-19 relief funds.

The Florida Board of Education, next week, will consider taking action against 11 Public School Districts with mask mandates that are out of compliance with state rules and an executive order from Gov. Ron DeSantis.Sarasota School Board members, next week, will vote on whether to repeal the district’s mask policy.A federal COVID-19 vaccination mandate for hospitals is coming in October. Today marks the deadline for NCH employees to be fully vaccinated or risk losing their jobs. Sarasota Memorial Hospital and Lee Health are not imposing a staff vaccine mandate in advance of the federal mandate.Nearly 40% of COVID-19 deaths in Lee Health hospitals have been in the past two months amid the summer pandemic surge driven by the delta variant.A new report projects Florida will have a shortage of 60,000 nurses by 2035.With weekly unemployment claims rolling in at pre-pandemic numbers, state leaders say they remain optimistic about seeing results from a summer push to get people back into the labor force.Republican state lawmakers are sponsoring a bill that would exempt religious institutions from emergency orders.Florida families with children are now set to receive more than $1 billion in federal pandemic relief funds through a program created by Congress last year to assist children who lost access to free and reduced-price school meals when instruction shifted from in-person to virtual.

The Miami Dade and Leon County school districts are preparing to file a new lawsuit against Florida over the state’s efforts to ban student mask mandates. Eleven school districts across the state could face financial penalties for continuing to require student mask wearing.The Florida Department of Health has threatened Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings with fines over a vaccine mandate for county employees, but Demings said the mandate doesn’t violate state law as no worker can be fired for not getting the vaccine.Lee Health continues to report declines in the number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients in its hospitals.The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, this week, announced nearly $1 billion dollars in American Rescue Plan funding for community health centers that treat underserved communities that have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. The funding includes nearly $40 million for 45 health centers across Florida.The traditional flu season begins Friday as Florida continues its recovery from the worst surge in COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths since the beginning of the pandemic. Health experts urge people to get the flu vaccine now.

Hospitals in Southwest Florida continue to report declines in hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Lee Health officials say they plan to comply with a new Biden Administration rule requiring some employers to require workers to be vaccinated or to be tested for COVID-19 weekly.Child advocates and Democrats are criticizing Gov. Ron DeSantis after his administration passed on $820 million in federal funds to help feed children from low-income families who are out of school due to a COVID-19 infection or exposure.The Lee County School District has changed its policy to allow parents to opt their children out of mask-wearing in school without a doctor’s note.Thousands of Sarasota parents turned out for an event last weekend, where physicians were providing medical exemption forms to the school district’s mask mandate.Florida Deputy Secretary for Health Shamarial Roberson, who has been critical in the state’s COVID tracking and response, announced her resignation.Collier County officials have announced plans for spending $74 million in federal American Rescue Plan fundingA consortium of Sarasota arts organizations announced plans to adopt uniform COVID safety policies that require vaccines or proof of a negative COVID test.