State Legislators Fraud -- 2024

5.  Former NHA State Senator Accused of Fraudulently Obtaining Federal Covid Loans

A former New Hampshire state senator accused last year of fraudulently obtaining federal COVID-19 loans and spending the money on luxury cars was charged this week with stealing separate state pandemic relief funds.

Republican Andy Sanborn, of Bedford, was charged with theft by deception, a felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison, the attorney general’s office said Wednesday. According to prosecutors, he misrepresented the revenue from his Concord Casino business to receive $188,000 more than he should have from the state’s “Main Street Relief Fund” in 2020.

The charges come 13 months after state investigators said Sanborn fraudulently obtained nearly $900,000 from the federal Small Business Administration in 2021 and 2022 and spent more than $260,000 of it on race cars. Casinos and charitable gaming facilities weren’t eligible for such loans, but Sanborn omitted his business name, “Concord Casino,” from his application and listed his primary business activity as “miscellaneous services,” officials said.

4.  Former FL State Senator Convicted of Election Conspiracy  10/1/2024

 Jurors on Monday night convicted former Florida Sen. Frank Artiles (R) of three of four charges in the election conspiracy trial.  Artiles, 50, was accused of offering $50,000 to Alex Rodriguez, the so-called "ghost candidate," to run for office in the Florida Legislature in 2020 and to cause the Democratic incumbent to lose the election by siphoning votes away from the Democrat in the razor-thin race.  Rodriguez said he was given $25,000 before the election and $25,000 afterward. 

Ex-state Sen. Frank Artiles convicted in election conspiracy trial - CBS Miami (cbsnews.com)

3.  Former NM Rep Face Charges for Defrauding the Government

District of New Mexico | Former State Representative and Friend Charged for Fraud Scheme | United States Department of Justice

3/28/2024

A former State Representative and her longtime friend are facing federal charges for long-term scheme to defraud the U.S. government. Sheryl Williams Stapleton (D), 66, of Albuquerque, and Joseph Johnson, 72, of Chantilly, Virginia, are schedule to appear in federal court for an initial appearance on April 9, 2024. 

The indictment alleges that from about July 1, 2013, through June 30, 2020, Stapleton used her position at Albuquerque Public Schools (APS) as Director of the Perkins Project and Career and Technical Education (CTE) Coordinator to direct approximately 40% of APS’s non-personnel CTE funding to Robotics Management Learning Systems (Robotics), a company owned and operated by her close personal friend, Johnson, for use of and support for the CyberQuest software in APS classrooms.

Stapleton reviewed and approved Robotics’ invoices and directed other APS employees under her supervision to approve those invoices. APS then issued checks to Robotics and mailed them to a post office box in Albuquerque. At Johnson’s request, Stapleton personally retrieved the checks from the post office box and deposited them into the Robotics bank account. In return, Johnson provided blank checks for the Robotics business checking account.

Stapleton used the blank checks to write approximately 233 checks from Robotics for her own benefit, totaling approximately $1,152,506.00, or 35% of the funds APS paid to Robotics

 

2.  Florida State Rep indicted for Forgery

Republican Lawmaker Indicted on Felony Forgery Charges - Newsweek

8/30/2024

On Wednesday, an Orange County grand jury indicted Florida State Representative Carolina Amesty (R),  29, from the 45th District for Forgery, Uttering a Forgery, False Acknowledgement or Certification  by Notary Public and Notarizing Your Own Signature.  The charges stem from an incident in 2021, in which Amesty allegedly knowingly notarized a document with a forged signature while working as an administrator for a nonprofit school run by her family, Central Christian Academy.

1. Former Mass State Senator convicted of Fraud and Tax Evasion 

District of Massachusetts | Former Massachusetts State Senator Convicted of COVID and Tax Fraud | United States Department of Justice

9/12/2024

Previously convicted of an ethics violation and sister also indicted on charges below.

Former Massachusetts State Senator Dean A. Tran (R) was convicted yesterday following a six-day trial for scheming to defraud the Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Assistance and collecting income that he failed to report to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Tran, 48, of Fitchburg, was convicted of 20 counts of wire fraud and three counts of filing false tax returns. U.S. District Court Chief Judge F. Dennis Saylor, IV, scheduled sentencing for Dec. 4, 2024. The defendant was indicted by a federal grand jury in November 2023.    

According to evidence presented at trial, Tran served as an elected member of the Massachusetts State Senate, representing Worcester and Middlesex Counties from 2017 to January 2021. After Tran’s State Senate term ended in 2021, Tran fraudulently received pandemic unemployment benefits while simultaneously employed as a paid consultant for a New Hampshire-based retailer of automotive parts (the Automotive Parts Company). While working as a paid consultant for the Automotive Parts Company, Tran fraudulently collected $30,120 in pandemic unemployment benefits.   

In addition, Tran concealed $54,700 in consulting income that he received from the Automotive Parts Company from his 2021 federal income tax return. This was in addition to thousands of dollars in income that Tran concealed from the IRS while collecting rent from tenants who rented his Fitchburg property from 2020 to 2022.