North Shore Businessman Pleads Guilty In $1.2 Million COVID Scheme

WENHAM, MA — A North Shore businessman accused of submitting six false applications for $1.2 million in funding under the federal COVID-19 CARES Act pleaded guilty to one count of bank fraud in federal court on Thursday.

The U.S. Department of Justice said James Joseph Cohen, 59, will be sentenced on Oct. 26 for the crime that provides for a sentence of up to 30 years in prison, five years of supervised release and a fine of up to $1 million or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater.

Prosecutors said that between April 2020 and September 2021, Cohen submitted false applications to financial institutions and to the Small Business Administration where he misrepresented the revenues of the companies, the number of people employed or the amount paid to employees in the 12-month period preceding the application.

He was accused of receiving about $1.2 million in pandemic relief based on these false submissions.

On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across the government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud.

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice's National Center for Disaster Fraud Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form here.

(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.)