A Boston man, Robert Platt Jr., has entered a guilty plea to charges of fraud and making false statements in connection with a fraudulent scheme to secure funds from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), part of the federal COVID-19 relief effort known as the CARES Act, according to an announcement by the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Platt, 45, admitted to submitting a PPP loan application filled with false information, including inaccurate representations of his supposed business's gross income in 2019 and misstating the loan's intended use, which led to him receiving approximately $20,833, these funds he did not use for sustaining business but instead spent on unrelated expenses. His sentencing is scheduled for December 18, 2024, after his February 2024 charge and arrest alongside over 40 members and associates of the Heath Street Gang, who faced various charges including racketeering conspiracy, drug trafficking, firearms charges, and financial frauds, notably involving COVID-relief fraud.
Under the charges of wire fraud and making false statements, Platt faces potential penalties, including a maximum of 20 years in prison for wire fraud and up to five years for making false statements, along with fines and supervised release periods, with specific sentences to be determined by a federal district court judge based on the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The careful orchestration of Platt's apprehension was a collaborative effort, as Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy, Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox, and other federal agents acknowledged in their statement. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sarah Hoefle and Lucy Sun of the Organized Crime & Gang Unit encapsulate the prosecution—the case forms part of the broader operations of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF), which works to dismantle high-level criminal enterprises threatening the United States using a united, intelligence-led approach.
In response to the pandemic, the Department of Justice created a COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to enhance the pursuit and prosecution of pandemic-related crimes and protect relief programs from fraud. Anyone with knowledge of attempted COVID-19 related fraud is encouraged to contact the Department's National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline or submit information through the NCDF Web Complaint Form.
