Scranton Man Charged With Committing $850,000 In Covid-19 Pandemic Fraud

Press Release

SCRANTON - The United States Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced today that Yoel Weiss, age 42, of Scranton, Pennsylvania, was charged in an indictment with 41 combined counts of wire fraud, false statements to the Small Business Administration, identity theft, unlawful monetary transactions, and witness tampering.

According to United States Attorney Gerard M. Karam, the indictment alleges that Weiss owned and operated multiple corporate entities in Pennsylvania and New York. Weiss allegedly filed at least seven fraudulent applications for pandemic stimulus funds through the Economic Injury and Disaster Loan (EIDL) program. Weiss was charged with seven counts of wire fraud, and seven count of making false statements to the United States Small Business Administration, for the fraudulent applications. Weiss also is charged with three counts of aggravated identity theft, for using stolen identities to file three applications.

The applications allegedly submitted by Weiss were filed on behalf of corporate entities that did not, in fact, have actual business operations, and that bore false dates of business establishment, false employee headcount information, and fabricated gross revenues, costs of goods sold, and lost rental income. Weiss allegedly obtained in excess of approximately $850,000 in EIDL funds through filing the fraudulent applications, which he spent on unapproved personal expenses. Weiss is charged with 23 counts of making unlawful monetary transactions with the proceeds of his fraud.

Weiss is further charged with threatening and intimidating a witness in an attempt to influence and prevent the witness's testimony before a federal grand jury.

"The American tax system is designed to provide vital government services to our people. It is not a slush fund for thieves and fraudsters," said Amy MacNeely, Acting Special Agent in Charge, IRS-Criminal Investigation, Philadelphia Field Office.

The EIDL program, funded by the March 2020 CARES Act, was designed to help small businesses facing financial difficulties during the COVID-19 pandemic. EIDL funds are offered in low-interest rate loans, designated for specific business expenses, such as fixed debts, payroll, and business obligation.

The case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigations. Assistant U.S. Robert J. O'Hara is prosecuting the case.

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 government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, among other methods, augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. For more information on the Department's response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus.

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 (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

The maximum penalty under federal law for the most serious charges are 20 years of imprisonment, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine. The aggravated identity theft offense carries a mandatory two-year sentence of imprisonment that is to run consecutive to any other term of imprisonment imposed. A sentence following a finding of guilt is imposed by the Judge after consideration of the applicable federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.

Indictments are only allegations. All persons charged are presumed to be innocent unless and until found guilty in court.

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Updated November 6, 2024