A federal jury in Denver has convicted Ikponmwosa Erhinmwinrose, 39, of Atlanta, Georgia, on multiple charges related to a large-scale fraud scheme. The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado announced that Erhinmwinrose was found guilty of six counts of wire fraud, three counts of aggravated identity theft, one count of wire fraud conspiracy, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Evidence presented at trial showed that Erhinmwinrose and his co-conspirators stole over $7.6 million from government relief programs established during the COVID-19 pandemic. These included the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program, various state unemployment insurance programs—including Colorado—and tax refunds.
The group used stolen identities from more than 1,000 victims to obtain these funds. Victims were affected in several ways: some did not receive IRS stimulus payments; others received letters demanding repayment for loans taken out in their names; and some faced negative attention on social media due to the fraudulent activity. To carry out these crimes, Erhinmwinrose created numerous email accounts under false names to impersonate real people and businesses. He worked with others to submit fraudulent benefit applications and directed conspirators to launder the proceeds through various bank accounts before converting them into cash or sending them overseas.
United States District Judge Charlotte N. Sweeney presided over the trial.
Multiple agencies participated in the investigation: the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, FDIC Office of Inspector General, Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Inspector General, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General.
Assistant United States Attorneys Craig Fansler and Sonia Dave prosecuted the case.
Individuals with information about attempted COVID-19-related fraud are encouraged to report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud Hotline at 866-720-5721 or submitting a complaint via https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form
Case Number: 1-23-cr-00300-CNS
