Date: August 10, 2023 Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov Newark, NJ — A New York man was arrested this morning on charges he fraudulently obtained more than $1 million in a COVID-19 scheme, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced. Terrell Fuller of Brooklyn, New York, is charged by complaint with one count of wire fraud. Fuller is scheduled to appear this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Edward S. Kiel in Newark federal court. According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court: The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act was a federal law enacted in or around March 2020 that was designed to provide emergency financial assistance to Americans suffering the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The CARES Act enabled the Small Business Association (SBA) to offer funding through the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program to business owners negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. In September 2021, a fraudulent EIDL application was made to the SBA on behalf of a business. The SBA provided $1.2 million in response to the application. According to a representative of the business, the business did not make the application. Approximately $400,000 of the funds paid out by the SBA in response to the application were eventually deposited into bank accounts to which Fuller was the sole signatory. The charge of wire fraud is punishable by a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of the greater of $250,000, twice the gross profits or twice the gross loss suffered to the victims of his offense, whichever is greatest. U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited special agents of Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Tammy Tomlins and special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge James E. Dennehy in Newark, with the investigation leading to today's arrest. He also thanked the U.S. Postal Inspection Service in Newark, the New York Police Department and FBI – New York for their assistance. The government is represented by Senior Trial Counsel Andrew Kogan of the U.S. Attorney's Office Cybercrime Unit in Newark. The charge and allegations contained in the complaint are merely accusations and the defendant is considered innocent unless and until proven guilty.
