3 LIers Indicted In COVID Relief Fraud Totaling $600 Million: Feds

CENTRAL ISLIP, NY — An indictment was unsealed on Wednesday charging seven people with conspiracy to defraud the federal government, prosecutors announced.

Six of the people, including three from Long Island, were arrested on Wednesday morning, the U.S. Attorney's office said.

Keith Williams, 46, from West Hempstead; Janine Davis, 41, of Wheatley Heights; and Morais Dicks, 55, of Dix Hills, were also charged with wire fraud, and aiding and assisting the preparation of false tax returns, federal prosecutors said.

"As alleged, the defendants shamefully took advantage of a global health emergency to line their pockets with millions of dollars that were intended for struggling families and small businesses just trying to stay afloat and lavished themselves with luxury goods while shamefully boasting about their criminal activity," said United States Attorney John Durham.

According to court documents, between November 2021 and June 2023, the defendants filed over 8,000 quarterly payroll tax returns claiming over $600 million in COVID-19 pandemic relief funds. On behalf of themselves and their clients, they submitted filings seeking payment under the Employee Retention Credit and the Sick and Family Leave Credit. Several of the defendants also filed fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan applications, Durham said.

When investigators executed a search warrant at Williams’ home, they seized millions of dollars’ worth of luxury goods that appear to have been purchased using proceeds of the fraud scheme, including designer items from Rolex, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Fendi, Balenciaga and Versace, as well as high-end vehicles, including a Land Rover, a Polaris Slingshot, and a Tesla Model Y, the U.S. Attorney's office said.

The defendants each face up to 20 years in prison if convicted of wire fraud, up to five years in prison for conspiracy and up to three years in prison on aiding and assisting in the preparation of false tax returns, prosectors said.