Connecticut Business Owner Obtained $250K+ in COVID Funds. He Used Dead Relative On Application; Brundidge Police Chief, Wife Committed Fraud Using Federal Aid Program, Prosecutors Claim, and other C-Virus related stories

By admin On Mar 18, 2025

CT business owner obtained $250K+ in COVID funds. He used dead relative on application:

A Connecticut small business owner has admitted to fraudulently obtaining up to $273,000 in COVID-19 relief funds.

Vincenzo Minutolo, 38, of Shelton, waived his right to be indicted and pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud on Friday before U.S. District Judge Kari A. Dooley in Bridgeport, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Each count carries a maximum of 20 years.

“On March 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act provided emergency financial assistance to Americans suffering the economic effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. “One source of relief provided by the CARES Act was the authorization of forgivable loans to small businesses for job retention and certain other expenses through the Paycheck Protection Program.”

According to court records, Minutolo claimed an ownership interest or representative relationship with City Sounds Productions LLC. Between March and September 2021, Minutolo is accused of defrauding the PPP loan program of more than $145,000 after allegedly providing false information on loan applications, including over inflating the yearly gross income for the business, misrepresenting that similar PPP loans had not been or would not be sought and providing fraudulent IRS tax filings and tax payment vouchers for City Sounds that had never been filed with the IRS, court records show.

Minutolo is also accused of “materially misrepresented having complied with all the requirements of the PPP rules” on the forgiveness applications, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. —>READ MORE HERE

Brundidge police chief, wife committed fraud using federal aid program, prosecutors claim

The Brundidge Police Chief, his wife, and one other person are accused of using a federal aid program to commit fraud during the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to federal prosecutors, chief Samuel Green, his wife Sharon Green and Schemillia Fenn committed fraud through the Emergency Rental Assistance Program in 2021.

The ERAP was set up by the federal government in 2020 for COVID relief.

In a federal indictment, prosecutors claimed the three provided false information for “numerous” ERAP application, tried to collected federal funds for properties that did not exist, altered utility bills, and committed wire fraud several times. The alleged crimes occurred between March and November 2021.

During the time of the alleged crimes, the Green’s were landlords in Pike County, and all three suspects lived in Troy. Fenn’s exact relationship with the Green’s is currently unknown.

The indictment was unsealed on Thursday, March 13 by a federal judge, and the trio were arrested by U.S. Marshals Thursday morning and taken to Montgomery.