Slidell Man Charged with Cares Act Fraud

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA - On February 27, 2026, MARCEL GROSS, age 51, of Slidell, was charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, announced U.S. Attorney David I. Courcelle.

A bill of information alleges that GROSS fraudulently obtained a $350,272 Paycheck Protection Program loan, which was a form of assistance authorized by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Such loans were forgivable and designed to enable businesses to meet payroll expenses. It is alleged that GROSS complied with a coconspirator's instructions to pay the coconspirator 40 percent of the loan amount in the form of numerous checks that would be negotiated over multiple weeks so as not to "flag."

If convicted, GROSS faces a maximum term of imprisonment of five years, which may be followed by up to three years of supervised release, a fine of up to $250,000, and payment of a $100 mandatory special assessment fee.

U.S. Attorney Courcelle reiterated that the bill of information is merely a charging document and that the guilt of the defendant must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Chandra Menon of the Public Integrity Unit is in charge of the prosecution.

For more information on the Department of Justice's response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus. 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

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