Date: Nov. 18, 2024 Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov BOSTON — A Boston man was sentenced on Nov. 15, 2024 for fraud and false statements charges in connection with a scheme to fraudulently obtain pandemic-related relief funds from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) made available under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act. Antawn Davis was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Julia E. Kobick to five months in prison and two years of supervised release. Davis was also ordered to pay $49,999 in restitution and forfeiture. In June 2024, Davis pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of making false statements. Davis was arrested in February 2024 along with over 40 alleged Heath Street Gang members/associates, who were charged with racketeering conspiracy; drug trafficking; firearms charges; and financial frauds, including COVID-related fraud. In April and May 2021, Davis submitted fraudulent PPP loan applications on behalf of his purported business. The applications contained multiple false statements, including the purported business’ total gross income in 2020 and the purpose of the loan. Davis also submitted false tax records in support of his loan applications. Based on the fraudulent applications, Davis received approximately $49,999 in PPP loans, which he then spent on non-business-related expenses, including transactions at a casino and at Saks Fifth Avenue. Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy; Harry T. Chavis Jr, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI); Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox; and Jonathan Mellone, Special Agent in Charge of Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sarah Hoefle and Lucy Sun of the Organized Crime & Gang Unit are prosecuting the case. 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.
