Nyesha D. Paris, a 47-year-old Philadelphia businesswoman, received a sentence of 20 months in prison following an extensive probe into her fraudulent activities. United States District Court Judge Joel H. Slomsky issued the verdict, also assigning a five-year supervised release, as reported by the Department of Justice.
Paris, also known through aliases such as Nyesha D. Henderson and Nyesha D. Jackson, orchestrated a variety of fraud schemes, duping no less than 15 victims with damages exceeding $600,000. The sentence handed down also included an order for Paris to pay $545,993 in victim restitution and a $84,008 forfeiture money judgment, accompanied by an obligation to complete 150 hours of community service. After being indicted in February 2023, the businesswoman pleaded guilty to charges including, but not limited to, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, bank fraud, and health care fraud by January 2024.
Paris executed her schemes between 2018 and 2023, taking on various approaches to realize her ill-gotten gains. One particular strategy involved joining forces to pilfer over $40,000 in goods and gift cards from Lowe’s Home Improvement, utilizing a shell company and fraudulent business accounts to defraud the retailer. Her deception ran so deep that she fraudulently obtained pandemic assistance loans through the Paycheck Protection Program, claiming more than $120,000 by inflating payroll, submitting forged documents, and making false certifications about her companies' operational status, which was non-existent in February 2020.
Paris went on to wrongfully bill Medicaid for close to $150,000 for home health services that her business claimed to provide, but in truth, never did. Still, even when the FBI put Paris on notice, presenting her with evidence of her wrongdoings and letting her know she was under investigation, Paris persisted in her criminal enterprises. All this information comes to light through the efforts of the FBI and the Assistant United States Attorneys David Ignall and Samuel Dalke, who prosecuted the case.
