Richmond, TX (Covering Katy News) – A Fort Bend County Grand Jury has indicted eight people accused of scamming the government out of approximately $730,000 in COVID relief funds. The charges carry a potential penalty of 15 to 99 years in prison.
The Fort Bend County District Attorney's Public Integrity Division obtained the indictments to recover funds designed to assist legitimate businesses that struggled during COVID.
The defendants are not named because not all have been arrested yet.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security Inspector General (DHS-OIG) investigated the case with Fort Bend County District Attorney's investigators.
Funds stolen from the U.S. Taxpayer through fraudulent means deprive deserving recipients and will not be tolerated," said Joseph Cuffari, Inspector General for the Department of Homeland Security.
"Government relief programs are designed to intervene in a crisis to prevent financial and social catastrophe," said District Attorney Brian Middleton. "Stealing from aid programs intended to assist citizens in need is akin to stealing from the plate at church – and it's despicable. My office will prosecute these offenses to protect our community and get those valuable resources redirected back where they belong."
Middleton formed the Public Integrity Division in 2019 to investigate and prosecute crimes committed by government officials and employees. The division was expanded in 2021 to target pandemic relief fraud. In 2023 alone, the division has prosecuted eleven people for fraud regarding pandemic-relief funds.