Fake COVID-19 Diagnosis Lands Atlanta Man In Federal Prison

ATLANTA — An Atlanta man is being sentenced to three years of federal prison time for lying to his employer about having COVID-19 and a child that died, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

In both cases, 35-year-old Santwon Antonio Davis presented bogus documentation, including fake medical records, to take advantage of paid time off from his Fortune 500 Atlanta employer, authorities said.

As a result of Davis’ claim during the height of the pandemic and out of concern for all of its employees, Davis’ company closed down its facility to undergo an extensive cleaning. The company also paid its employees, who were all quarantined, during the shutdown.

As federal agents investigated the COVID-19 fraud, they discovered the falsified paperwork in 2019 to obtain bereavement benefits from his employer for the death of a child that Davis never had.

“Davis’ history of lies caught up to him when he took advantage of a pandemic and caused undue harm to the company he worked for and their employees,” said Chris Hacker, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta.

Acting U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine said Davis’ mendacity continued even after he was caught cheating his employer.

“After he was arrested for defrauding his employer, and while he was under court supervision, he committed yet another crime, by filing a fraudulent mortgage application,” Erskine said. “Davis’ actions show he had little regard for the law.”

While on pretrial release, prosecutors said Davis submitted a mortgage application riddled with false information, including bogus earnings and employment information. The mortgage company saw stories of his previous COVID-19 misdeeds, which partially led to discovering his falsehoods during the application process.

In addition to the three-year sentence, U.S. District Judge William R. May II ordered Davis to repay $187,550 in restitution to his former employer, and he must serve five years of supervised release after his prison term.