MIAMI, Florida — A 25-year-old Fort Lauderdale man has been stripped of his U.S. citizenship after defrauding COVID-19 relief programs and concealing his criminal conduct during the naturalization process.
U.S. District Judge Rodney Smith revoked the citizenship of Joff Stenn Wroy Philossaint after determining he illegally procured it by making false statements to immigration officials, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida. “United States citizenship is one of the greatest privileges our nation can offer, and it must be earned honestly,” said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones.
Between April 2020 and May 2021, Philossaint fraudulently obtained COVID-19 relief funds through companies he owned or controlled and by preparing loan applications for others in exchange for kickbacks. The applications contained materially false representations about the applicants’ revenues and payroll, stated the source…