Final member of COVID rental assistance fraud ring convicted at trial of wire fraud and money laundering

Seattle - The final defendant of a six-defendant fraud scheme that submitted fraudulent applications seeking more than $6.8 million in COVID benefits was convicted late yesterday in U.S. District Court in Seattle, announced First Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd. Jahri Asad Cunningham, 48, of Houston, Texas, is the brother of the scheme's mastermind, Paradise Williams. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the two worked hand-in-glove to defraud a variety of relief programs. Cunningham personally received $344,240 in benefits that were intended for those struggling to keep their homes during the pandemic. The entire group collected more than $3.3 million. U.S. District Judge John H. Chun ordered Cunningham remanded into custody after the guilty verdict was returned. He scheduled sentencing for November 2, 2026.

According to records filed in the case and evidence presented in the four-day jury trial, Cunningham initially tried to defraud the Small Business Administration (SBA) of more than $515,000 by creating fictitious companies in a bid to obtain funds from SBA's Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) Program. The SBA recognized the applications as fake and did not pay out any money in response to the fraudulent applications.

Cunningham and his sister then turned to another program: the U.S. Department of Treasury's Emergency Rental Assistance Program, which was administered by King County. In 2021 and 2022, the pair posed as landlords seeking rental assistance to prevent the supposed eviction of tenants who supposedly could not pay their rent because of the pandemic. In fact, the tenants did not exist. Cunningham did not own or represent building owners but submitted eight applications in various names posing as a landlord. At trial, prosecutors showed how Cunningham and his sister defrauded the program and narrated their activities in real-time via text message.

"They created fake tenants, they created fake documents, they created fake eviction notices for their fake tenants," Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren Watts Staniar told the jury in closing argument. "And every dollar that went to a fraudster was a dollar that could not go to a family in need."

When King County identified the fraud and pulled back $100,000 it had paid out to Cunningham, he continued to try to get the county to return the money by providing additional fake documents. "Jahri Cunningham was trying to steal every last cent of the (rental assistance) program," Assistant U.S. Attorney Cindy Chang said in the closing rebuttal.

When he realized law enforcement was investigating him, Cunningham urged his sister to get a new phone and new telephone number in an effort to hide text messages that proved damning at trial.

Cunningham was convicted of three counts of wire fraud - one for submitting fake SBA EIDL applications, and two for submitting applications to the emergency rental assistance program. He was convicted of money laundering in connection with the tens of thousands of dollars in kickbacks that he paid to his sister, Paradise Williams, for her role in the scheme.

Williams was sentenced in March 2024 to five years in prison.

Wire fraud and money laundering are punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

In 2016, Cunningham was convicted in the Western District of Washington and sentenced to 75 months in prison for conspiracy to distribute controlled substances.

The case was investigated by the FBI with assistance from the Small Business Administration office of Inspector General (SBA-OIG).

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Cindy Chang and Lauren Watts Staniar.