Minnesota Man Sentenced After Self Reporting COVID 19 Fraud

DENVER - The United States Attorney's Office for the District of Colorado announces that Jacob Schneider, 42, of Saint Paul, Minnesota, was sentenced to one year and one day in prison and $555,292.88 in restitution after pleading guilty to one count of wire fraud after self-reporting his own COVID-19 related fraud to authorities.

On March 27, 2020, the President of the United States signed into law the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security ("CARES") Act, which provided emergency assistance to small business owners suffering adverse economic effects caused by the Coronavirus ("COVID-19") pandemic. The CARES Act created Paycheck Protection Program ("PPP"), a program administered by the Small Business Administration that provided loans to small businesses to retain workers, maintain payroll, and certain other expenses consistent with PPP rules.

According to the plea agreement, in February 2021, Schneider prepared and submitted a fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) application for "Piddonkadonk, LLC," in which he fabricated the entity's payroll and falsely represented that the PPP funds would be used to pay eligible business expenses, when, in fact, the bulk of the proceeds were used for his personal benefit. Schneider obtained $530,567 in fraudulent PPP funds.

"This case is another example of someone who stole benefits intended for struggling taxpayers and used them for personal gain," said United States Attorney Matt Kirsch. "The difference in this case is that the defendant voluntarily took responsibility, and that action is reflected in his sentence. I encourage others to self-report COVID-19 related fraud."

"We will take all means to safeguard financial relief programs from exploitation," said Special Agent in Charge Marc DellaSala, U.S. Secret Service, Denver Field Office. Through a whole-of-government approach, we continue working with task force partners to pursue the arrest of those who undermine our nation's financial security. This sentencing demonstrates yet another example of the unwavering support we receive from prosecutors and the federal court system in this endeavor."

United States District Court Judge Nina Y. Wang presided over the sentencing. The United States Secret Service handled the investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Nicole Cassidy handled the prosecution.

On July 11, 2023, the Attorney General selected the District of Colorado's U.S. Attorney's Office to head one of five national COVID-19 Fraud Strike Force Teams. The Department of Justice established the Strike Force to enhance existing efforts to combat and prevent COVID-19 related financial fraud. The Strike Force combines law enforcement and prosecutorial resources and focuses on large-scale, multistate pandemic relief fraud perpetrated by criminal organizations and transnational actors, as well as those who committed multiple instances of pandemic relief fraud. The Strike Force uses prosecutor-led and data analyst-driven teams to identify and bring to justice those who stole pandemic relief funds. Additional information regarding the Strike Force may be found at https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-announces-results-nationwide-covid-19-fraud-enforcement-action.

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice's National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form