Sparta Couple Sentenced After Stealing Nearly $800K In COVID Relief Loans

SPARTA TOWNSHIP, NJ — A Sparta Township couple was sentenced this week after being found guilty in a fraudulent scam, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Diana Valteri, 42, and Edmond Haxhillari, 43, were sentenced to one year in prison after stealing nearly $800,000 in federal Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL).

According to court documents, the couple had fraudulently obtained around $790,000 in EIDL loans meant for distressed small businesses during the pandemic between June 2020 and August 2020.

Valteri and Haxhillari submitted fake loan applications while posing as owners of several businesses, when in reality they were shell companies with no business operations. The couple then took the funds for personal use.

According to TracktheRecovery.org, which is a project of Harvard and Brown universities, around 9.4 million small businesses closed in the U.S. between January and December of 2020.

Several organizations, including the FBI and the IRS, were involved with the investigation that led to Valteri’s and Haxhillari’s arrests. The two were found guilty on wire fraud and money laundering charges in August of 2024.

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.