VALDOSTA — A Georgia man convicted of money laundering after fraudulently applying for $2.6 million in loans under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act has been charged sentenced to prison and ordered to pay more than $800,000 in damages.
Anthony J. Boncimino, 47, of Sycamore, was sentenced March 16 by US District Judge Louis Sands to 36 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release and ordered to pay the Small Business Administration $802,321.28 The ordered restitution comes in addition to the $507,556.23 in loan funds seized by the government during the investigation into Boncimino’s bank accounts.
Boncimino also repaid more than $1.3 million on two of the illegally obtained loans before sentencing. Boncimino previously pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering. There is no probation in the federal system.
“The U.S. Attorney’s Office is pursuing federal prosecutions against those who willfully defrauded programs available to small businesses and citizens struggling to survive during the global pandemic,” said U.S. Attorney Peter D. Leary. “Protecting honorable and hard-working people from fraudsters is a priority for our office and our law enforcement partners.”
According to court documents, Boncimino admitted knowingly setting up two fictitious companies to fraudulently obtain PPP loans and obtaining PPP loans for his moving company by falsifying salary information. In all, Boncimino raised $2,671,871.74 in the form of four PPP loans from three lending banks through fraud. Boncimino created fake IRS forms for his fictional companies and filed these and other fraudulent records with the lending banks and the SBA. Boncimino used the money to pay state and federal taxes; He told investigators he wanted a safety net for his family and his moving company.
On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to pool the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to increase efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud.
Anyone with information about suspected COVID-19-related fraud may report it by calling the U.S. Department of Justice Disaster Fraud Hotline at (866) 720-5721 or by completing the NCDF web complaint form at https://www .justice used. gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.
Small Business Administration-OIG Eastern Region, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration and IRS-Criminal Investigation investigated the case. Assistant US Attorney Robert McCullers is prosecuting the case. Retired Assistant US Attorney Jim Crane initiated the prosecution of this case.
