Local Man Charged with Fraudulently Obtaining More Than $500,000 in COVID-19 Relief Funds

MIAMI – A federal grand jury charged Emmanuel Bully, Jr., 44, of Miami-Dade County, Florida, with wire fraud.  Per the indictment, Bully fraudulently obtained more than $500,000 in forgivable Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans and Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) loans. These loans are guaranteed by the Small Business Administration under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

According to the indictment, between April 29, 2020, through approximately September 27, 2021, Bully submitted six PPP and EIDL loan applications on behalf of himself—as a sole proprietor—and each of his purported four companies: MB Tax Consultants LLC, MB Tax Services LLC, MB Tax Services Consultants, and Emmanuel B. In each PPP and EIDL loan application, Bully falsely stated the corporation’s average monthly payroll or gross revenues.  These false and fraudulent applications ultimately led to Bully receiving over $500,000 in PPP and EIDL loan funds.  Contrary to the purported purpose for the loans, Bully spent the EIDL and PPP loan proceeds for his personal use and benefit, not for payroll costs, interest on mortgages, rent, or utilities.

During Bully’s initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge William Matthewman, the prosecutor alleged Bully was interviewed earlier this month by FBI special agents regarding the alleged fraud.  The FBI arrested Bully as he attempted to leave the country on an international flight on August 16, 2023.

U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida and Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey B. Veltri of the FBI, Miami Field Office, made the announcement.

FBI, West Palm Beach Field Office, investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Shannon Shaw is prosecuting it.

An indictment contains mere allegations, and all defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.

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 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-80141.

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