Date: Jan. 27, 2025
Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov
Portland, ME — A Camden man pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Portland today to wire fraud.
According to court records, in 2020 and 2021, Yani Stancioff exploited the COVID-19 pandemic by submitting fraudulent applications for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) funds. Stancioff submitted three fraudulent applications and obtained $51,666. On his EIDL application, he claimed to be the sole proprietor of a non-existent agricultural business. On his PPP applications, Stancioff falsely claimed to be the sole proprietor of a marketing business with gross income of approximately $107,000. As part of the false PPP applications, Stancioff filed falsified IRS documents.
Stancioff faces up to 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000, followed by up to three years of supervised release. A federal district judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) investigated the case.
Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act: The Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act is a federal law enacted on March 29, 2020. It was designed to provide emergency financial assistance to the millions of Americans who suffered economic effects resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. The CARES Act made Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) funding available to business owners negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. EIDL proceeds were funded by the Small Business Administration (SBA) and disbursed by the U.S. Treasury. EIDLs could only be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable and other bills that could have been paid had the COVID-19 disaster not occurred.
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP): The PPP was a COVID-19 pandemic relief program administered by the SBA that provided forgivable loans to small businesses for job retention and certain other expenses. The PPP permitted participating third-party lenders to approve and disburse SBA-backed PPP loans to cover payroll, fixed debts, utilities, rent/mortgage, accounts payable and other bills incurred by qualifying businesses during, and resulting from, the COVID-19 pandemic. PPP loans were fully guaranteed by the SBA.
IRS-CI is the criminal investigative arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money-laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. IRS-CI special agents are the only federal law enforcement agents with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code, obtaining a more than a 90 percent federal conviction rate. The agency has 20 field offices located across the U.S. and 12 attaché posts abroad.