Shelton Man Accused Of Fraudulently Obtaining COVID-19 Relief Funds: Feds

SHELTON, CT — A Shelton man accused of fraudulently obtaining COVID-19 relief funds pleaded guilty to related charges late last week, Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut Marc Silverman announced in a news release.

Vincenzo Minutolo, 38, of Shelton, pleaded guilty Friday before U.S. District Judge Kari Dooley in Bridgeport to charges related to his fraudulent receipt of COVID-19 relief funds, Silverman said.

According to court documents and statements made in court, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act provided emergency financial assistance to Americans suffering the economic effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020.

One source of relief provided by the CARES Act was the authorization of forgivable loans to small businesses for job retention and certain other expenses through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), according to Silverman.

In April 2020, Congress authorized more than $300 billion in additional PPP funding, which allowed qualifying small businesses and other organizations to receive unsecured loans at an interest rate of 1 percent, Silverman said.

According to Silverman, PPP loan proceeds were to be used by businesses on payroll costs, interest on mortgages, rent and utilities.

"The PPP allowed the interest and principal to be forgiven if businesses spent the proceeds on these expenses within a certain period of time of receipt and used at least a certain percentage of the amount to be forgiven for payroll," Silverman said in a news release. "The PPP was overseen by the Small Business Administration, which has authority over all PPP loans. Individual PPP loans, however, were issued by private approved lenders, which received and processed PPP applications and supporting documentation, and then made loans using the lenders' own funds, which were guaranteed by the SBA."

According to Silverman, Minutolo claimed an ownership interest or representative relationship with City Sounds Productions LLC.

Between March and September 2021, Minutolo defrauded the PPP loan program of more than $145,000 by providing false information on loan applications for City Sounds, which included "overstating the yearly gross income for City Sounds, misrepresenting that similar PPP loans had not been or would not be sought when he had, in fact, sought and obtained, and intended to seek and obtain, such loans and providing fraudulent IRS tax filings and tax payment vouchers for City Sounds that had, in fact, never been filed with the IRS," Silverman said.

Minutolo also "materially misrepresented having complied with all the requirements of the PPP rules" on the forgiveness applications he submitted, according to Silverman.

The CARES Act also created a new temporary federal unemployment insurance program for pandemic unemployment assistance known as "Pandemic Unemployment Assistance," which provided unemployment insurance benefits for employed individuals who are not eligible for other types of UI due to their employment status, according to Silverman.

The CARES Act also created a new temporary federal program called "Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation" that provided additional weekly benefits to those eligible for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance or regular UI, according to Silverman.

The Connecticut Department of Labor administers UI benefits for residents of Connecticut, Silverman said.

Between March 2020 and April 2021, Minutolo defrauded the CT-DOL of "at least $86,000, and as much as approximately $273,000," by providing the CT-DOL with fraudulent Pandemic Unemployment Assistance applications seeking unemployment insurance payments in others' names, including people who had died and others who were unaware their name and other personal information had been used, according to Silverman.

Silverman said one fraudulent application submitted was for Minutolo's grandfather, who died in 2014, and included a telephone number associated with Minutolo.

"Minutolo continued to make online weekly certifications to the CT-DOL attesting that the information contained in his grandfather's application, and other applications, were true in order to receive continued unemployment insurance benefits," Silverman said.

Minutolo pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud, an offense that carries a maximum prison term of 20 years on each count. Sentencing is scheduled for May, according to Silverman.

Minutolo is released on a $50,000 bond pending sentencing.

Anyone with information about allegations of fraud involving COVID-19 are encouraged to report it by calling the Department of Justice's National Center for Disaster Fraud Hotline at 866-720-5721, or through the NCDF web complaint form.