A man named Shawn Allen Farmer from North Carolina has found himself on the wrong side of the law after flaunting his medical release. The court allowed the man medical help before reporting to prison. He instead went to Las Vegas and cashed out $92,000 at a casino.
After he visited a casino, he traveled to Hawaii even though he was legally not supposed to travel. District Judge Terrence W. Boyle revoked Shawn’s medical release after his hearing in North Carolina federal court.
Shawn was initially arrested and sentenced to a 15 month prison time for obtaining COVID-19 relief money illegally. He was found guilty of fraud by using stolen Social Security Numbers. It is still unclear what illness Shawn was ailing from when he received the medical release.
According to the COVID Fraud Benefits Task Force, Shawn traveled to Hawaii and got a Hawaii driver’s license. His taxes also indicated that he used a stolen Social Security number.
Attorney Michael Easley announced the revoking of Farmer’s medical release. During Shawn’s hearing, The Internal Revenue Service Criminal investigations were the investigators, and Attorney William M. Gilmore was the prosecutor.
Shawn Allen Farmer’s Accomplices
Charged alongside Shawn Allen Farmer are six other members of a family in Wake County and three others. They all pled guilty to swindle charges. All the fraud cases are related to illegal Social Security numbers and credit charges.
One of the defendants, Michael Antony Griffin, lied to people to repair their bad credit. Instead, he created false credit profiles and changed credit information.
Together with the others, Michael defrauded Discover, Capital One, and Synchrony Bank. The defendants were also found guilty of using false identities, pay stubs, bank statements, and financial record documents to defraud financial institutions.
The other defendants are:
- Angela Griffin
- Creshun Alexandria Griffin
- Regina Griffin
- Sharon Annita Edmond
- Katina Griffin Perry
- Harvey Griffin
- Melvin Griffin
- Tyrone Edmonds
- Jasmine Maria Davis
- Jasper Deonta Goodman
About the COVID Fraud Benefit Task Force
The COVID Fraud Benefit Task Force is a law enforcement unit brought together by the U.S Attorney’s Office to investigate and indict individuals and firms found guilty of frauding government agencies that offer financial aid in times of COVID-19.
The task force is working with several agencies from the government to ensure that the COVID relief money is reaching the people it was meant to help. Since the pandemic, over 600 people have been charged with COVID-19 related scam cases. The cases, which are in 56 national districts, involve more than $6000 million.
The Department of Justice is using every tool at its disposal to protect the relief programs. It is also charging those who are using the pandemic as a means to profit illegally.
The Task Force is also responsible for recovering the stolen money, holding campaigns to provide public awareness on fraud and how to avoid falling for COVID scams and spreading awareness on how to protect against the COVID-19.
The other agencies partnering with the COVID Fraud Benefit Task are;
- The Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF)
- Heads of Litigating Components
- The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
- The National Unemployment Insurance Fraud Task Force
- Department of Labor
- INTERPOL Washington Key Interagency Partners
- Department of Treasury
- Federal Housing Finance Agency
- Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
- The Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRA)
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