A Boston man has been handed down his sentence by a federal court after admitting to charges of wire fraud and making false statements in an attempt to illegally obtain pandemic relief funds assigned to aid small businesses during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a statement by the Department of Justice.
Robert Platt Jr., aged 45, will be serving time already served, albeit only one day, followed by two years of supervised release, and he's been ordered to cough up $20,833 as restitution and forfeiture, the misuse of those funds landed him in hot water after they were blown on personal indulgences including stints at the local casino rather than business-related expenses as the program intended. Platt, part of a larger dragnet that swept up over 40 Heath Street Gang members back in February with charges sprawling from racketeering to drug trafficking, accepted a guilty plea in September this year.
Structured under the CARES Act, the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) was designed as a lifeline to small businesses struggling to keep their operations afloat and employees on payroll, the loans, forgiven—if used as directed, turned out to be a temptation for fraudulent activity for some, including Platt who submitted a PPP loan application filled with inaccuracies about his supposed construction business in April of 2021.
The case led to a concerted effort by multiple agencies, as stated by United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy, Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox, and other officials announcing the sentencing and officials from the Department of Labor and IRS Criminal Investigations played integral roles in uncovering Platt's misconduct which included falsified tax documents and misrepresentations of income, as part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces operation, aiming to unravel and disrupt the operations of high-level criminal threats to the public's safety and national security
Reflective of the government's commitment to curbing the surge of pandemic-related fraud, the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force was instituted by the Attorney General with a mission to bring together varied agencies and resources to combat and prevent the exploitation of the relief programs. Tips and reports regarding potential COVID-19 related fraud can be registered with the Department of Justice's National Center for Disaster Fraud Hotline or through their online complaint form, illustrating an ongoing vigilance and enforcement against the underbelly of criminal activity that seeks to divert crucial aid from those in rightful need.
