Apollo Beach Businessman Charged with COVID-19 Fraud

Tampa, FL - Caleb Walsh (36, Apollo Beach) has been charged by federal indictment with bank fraud, wire fraud, and illegal monetary transactions. If convicted on all counts, Walsh faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in federal prison. The indictment also notifies Walsh that the United States intends to forfeit a Mercedes Benz G-Wagon, a hotel, and cryptocurrency, which are alleged to be traceable to proceeds of the offense. U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe made the announcement.

According to the indictment, between March 2020 and March 2021, Walsh devised a scheme to defraud multiple federally-insured financial institutions and another lender by submitting false and fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan applications in the names of companies that he controlled. Walsh misrepresented the number of employees, average monthly payroll costs, and falsely certified that the PPP funds would be used for permissible expenses. In furtherance of his scheme, Walsh also submitted false and fraudulent IRS tax forms showing his companies had purportedly paid millions of dollars in payroll as well as submitting altered and/or fictitious bank statements in the names of his companies. PPP loans were one of the sources of economic relief provided by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

Walsh used the fraudulently obtained PPP proceeds to illegally purchase a luxury vehicle, invest in a hotel in Nebraska, purchase cryptocurrency, and purchase private jet flights to Mexico for him and his family.

An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.

In May 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 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.

This case was investigated by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation - Office of Inspector General, IRS Criminal Investigation, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the U.S. Small Business Administration - Office of Inspector General. It will be prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Chris Poor.

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by contacting the Justice Department's National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.