Billions of dollars in public funds intended to help with COVID relief were misused and the total loss may be much larger than we originally thought, according to the Government Accountability Office.
For years, the News 3 Investigative Team has been exposing cases involving COVID relief fraud cases in Hampton Roads.
Recently, federal court records outline how Lapondia Wallace of Newport News is accused of being the leader in a ring that filed 22 fraudulent COVID relief loans totaling over $100,000.
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Prosecutors reported that she spent the money on travel, gambling and luxury clothes and shoes.
Ebony Spivey got about $93,000 in COVID relief money for running a childcare and clothing store out of her Hampton home that didn’t exist.
She has now pleaded guilty to making a false statement to the Small Business Administration. Her lawyer said they had no comment about the allegations.
Records show that government contractor Yaw Ayim, who also owns the Veteran Communications Group LLC, is accused of wrongly taking $107,000 in COVID relief funds between 2020-2022. His lawyer said no comment.