North Shore Businessman Charged In $1.2 Million COVID-19 Fraud Scheme

WENHAM, MA — A North Shore business owner is accused of trying to defraud the federal government out of $1.2 million in COVID-19 relief funds through false applications for the Paycheck Protection Program in 2020 and 2021.

The United States Department of Justice said James Joseph Cohen, 59, of Wenham, has agreed to plead guilty in federal court on Thursday to one count of bank fraud. The U.S. DOJ said court documents showed he submitted six false applications for pandemic relief funding under the CARES Act for companies he owned.

Cohen is accused of falsely misstating the revenues of the companies, the people employed, or the amounts paid to those employees in the 12 months leading up to the applications.

The charge of bank fraud provides up to 30 years in prison, five years of supervised release and a file of up to $1 million — or twice the gross gain or loss — whichever is greater.

A plea hearing was not yet scheduled as of Thursday.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)