A Miami woman has hit the jackpot of jail time, sentenced to 70 months behind bars for using COVID-19 relief funds to gamble and buy personal luxuries, including cosmetic surgery and a Pomeranian puppy. Maritza Morales Hermoso, 58, of Miami, Florida, found herself in deep legal water after participating in a fraudulent scheme that pocketed nearly $2 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) aid. Along with co-defendant Javier Lazo Cabrera, Hermoso fabricated loan applications that falsely represented several companies, racking up the illicit cash between April 2020 through April 2021, according to the Justice Department.
Among her frivolous splurges, Hermoso gambled the ill-gotten gains at South Florida casinos and pampered herself with cosmetic surgery, cruised in a Cadillac Escalade, and lavished on a puppy while also laundering the dough through various business accounts, withdrawing the cash by Hermoso, the court heard. She previously pleaded guilty in October 2023, getting sentenced on Feb. 5 for her high-stakes misdeeds. Hermoso's co-conspirator Cabrera is up for his day in court on March 11 and could face up to 20 years in federal prison for his role in the plot, after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud last December.
The sprawling scam was intended to exploit the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security ("CARES") Act – a governmental lifeline thrown to small businesses sinking under the economic tumult of the COVID-19 pandemic. The pair's fraudulent actions diverted resources designed to aid honest Americans struggling in the grip of the crisis, as per the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida.
Not just content with stealing, the two defendants spun an intricate web of lies, supported by made-up payroll paperwork and exaggerated employee numbers. This criminal enterprise caught the eye of an assortment of agencies, including the U.S. Secret Service and the Small Business Administration Office of Inspector General. Upon serving her a dose of justice, U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe remarked on the importance of protecting the integrity of the financial assistance programs, with Special Agent in Charge Rafael Barros pointing out that "this sentence demonstrates our continuing commitment to rooting out greed-based fraud," as the Justice Department reported.
Individuals privy to information about potential COVID-19 fraud are called upon to ring the Department of Justice's National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline or submit through the NCDF Web Complaint Form. This case underlines a wider effort spearheaded by the DOJ, which includes the establishment of a COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force aiming to strengthen the government's defense against pandemic-related fraud. More details on these initiatives are available through the DOJ's dedicated coronavirus response webpage.
