Former State Correctional Officer Pleads Guilty to COVID-19 Relief Fraud

MIAMI – Alfredo Hudson, 36, a former correctional officer with the Florida Department of Corrections (FDC) has pled guilty to wire fraud in connection with two fraudulent loan applications under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) before U.S. Magistrate Judge Lisette M. Reid.

On June 12, 2020, Hudson submitted a false and fraudulent PPP loan application claiming to be a self-employed individual operating a recreation business under the name “Alfredo Enterprise.” The PPP loan application falsely represented Alfredo Enterprise’s monthly payroll and included a false and fraudulent IRS Form 1040, Schedule C for tax year 2019. As a result of the false and fraudulent application, Hudson obtained a $10,104 PPP loan from a Georgia-based lender. 

On April 25, 2021, Hudson submitted a second false and fraudulent PPP loan application, this time claiming to be a sole proprietor operating a barbershop under the tradename of “Alfredo Enterprise.” The second draw PPP loan application also fraudulently represented Alfredo Enterprise’s 2019 gross income. In support of the application, Hudson submitted a different false and fraudulent IRS Form 1040, Schedule C, for tax year 2019. Once again, the fraudulent application was approved, and Hudson obtained approximately $11,251 in PPP loan proceeds from a Florida-based lender.

Subsequently, Hudson submitted a false and fraudulent PPP loan forgiveness application to the Small Business Administration (SBA) seeking repayment forgiveness for the PPP second draw loan he received from the Florida-based lender. As a result of this false and fraudulent forgiveness application, the SBA excused the defendant from any repayment obligation on the second draw PPP loan.

Hudson is scheduled for sentencing on May 24, at 2:00 p.m. before U.S. District Judge Roy K. Altman. He faces a possible maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison.

U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida, Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey B. Veltri of the FBI, Miami Field Office, and Special Agent in Charge Amaleka McCall-Brathwaite, Small Business Administration, Investigations Division’s Eastern Region (SBA-OIG), announced the guilty plea.

FBI Miami and SBA-OIG investigated the case, with assistance from the Florida Department of Corrections’ (FDC) Office of Inspector General (OIG). Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward N. Stamm is prosecuting the case.

In March 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act was enacted. It was designed to provide emergency financial assistance to the millions of Americans suffering the economic effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Among other sources of relief, the CARES Act authorized and provided funding to the SBA to provide Economic Injury Disaster Loans (“EIDLs”) to eligible small businesses, including sole proprietorships and independent contractors, experiencing substantial financial disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic to allow them to meet financial obligations and operating expenses that could otherwise have been met had the disaster not occurred.  EIDL applications were submitted directly to the SBA via the SBA’s on-line application website, and the applications were processed and the loans funded for qualifying applicants directly by the SBA.

On May 17, 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, among other methods, 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. For more information on the Department’s response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus.

On September 15, 2022, the Attorney General selected the Southern District of Florida’s U.S. Attorney’s Office to head one of three 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. For more information on the department’s response to the pandemic, please click here. 

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.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov under case number 23-cr-20060.

###