Press Release

Also announces Covid-19 Fraud Task Force and milestones in multiple fraud cases.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - U.S. Attorney S. Lane Tucker for the District of Alaska announced her office's priority to prosecute white-collar and financial crimes committed in Alaska. One prong of this effort is the formal establishment of an interagency Covid-19 Fraud Task Force.

"White-collar and other financial crimes devastate families, communities and organizations. This task force brings together key law enforcement personnel to continue our ongoing efforts to combat all types of white-collar crime, including Covid-19 related fraud," said U.S. Attorney S. Lane Tucker for the District of Alaska. "My office will remain steadfast in our work with law enforcement to find, investigate and prosecute any individual who chooses to commit these crimes."

The following agencies are part of the task force:

• U.S. Small Business Administration, Office of Inspector General Western Region Office (SBA OIG)
• IRS, Criminal Investigation Seattle Division Office (IRS CI)
• FBI Anchorage Field Office
• U.S. Department of Treasury, Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA)

"The task force model is a proven approach to efficiently bringing resources to bear to combat fraud," stated SBA OIG's Western Region Special Agent in Charge Weston King. "Our office values our law enforcement partners' shared commitment to holding wrongdoers accountable. I want to thank the U.S. Attorney's Office and our law enforcement partners for their dedication and pursuit of justice."

"White-collar crimes are not violent, but they are not victimless," said Assistant Special Agent in Charge Brandon Waddle of the FBI Anchorage Field Office. "By collaborating with our partners and utilizing intelligence-driven strategies, the FBI has been working diligently to tackle white-collar crimes and to hold fraudsters accountable."

"Financial crime is not victimless and hurts many people," said Special Agent in Charge Adam Jobes, IRS CI, Seattle Field Office. "Our team here in Alaska is incredibly invested in our local communities, and we are dedicated to protecting them from harm. We all depend on our financial systems every day, and we are proud to join with U.S. Attorney Tucker and our partners in law enforcement in these essential efforts to keep our communities vibrant and safe."

The Task Force identifies, investigates and prosecutes those whose defraud economic aid programs intended to help individuals and small businesses negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. That includes programs such as the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL), Restaurant Revitalization Funds (RRF), Shuttered Venue Operator Grants (SVOG), State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF), Coronavirus Farm Assistance Program (CFAP), Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) and Unemployment Insurance (UI). To fraudulently obtain these funds, criminals have created fake businesses, committed identity theft, falsely reported their criminal history and inflated the size and scope of actual businesses, most often subsequently misusing federal funding for personal gain.

Notable Cases

In conjunction with today's announcement, U.S. Attorney Tucker also announced charges and recognized milestones in a number of financial crimes cases, including charges in cases investigated by the Task Force.

Since September 2023, three cases alleging fraud charges related to Covid-19 programs have been indicted following investigations by the Task Force. The cases are as follows (by date of indictment):

• Rosaline Natazha Mavaega, 41, and Esau Malele Fualema Jr., 44, of Anchorage, were indicted in September 2023 on major fraud, wire fraud, money laundering and identify theft charges related to an alleged scheme to steal millions of dollars through Covid-19 recovery funds. The indictment alleges they stole over $1.6 million.
• Lloyd Pennebaker, 58, of Anchorage, was indicted in October 2023 on wire fraud charges related to false statements regarding his criminal history he allegedly made on EIDL loan applications from April 2020 to May 2021. The indictment alleges he received $122,500 in federal funding from the EIDL loans.
• Cheryl Labrie, 36, of Anchorage, was indicted in January 2024 on wire fraud, bank fraud and money laundering charges related to an alleged scheme to obtain and launder nearly $1 million she received through multiple EIDL and PPP loans and advances over a year.

Other notable financial fraud cases:

• Garett Elder, 30, of Anchorage, was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Nov. 13, 2023, after he defrauded more than $26 million from over 170 victims in a large-scale investment fraud scheme.
• The U.S. will collect over $350,000 in treble damages and penalties after a default judgement was ordered in the False Claims Act case against Michael Hanzuk II, 31, of Anchorage. Hanzuk was a former co-owner of Arm Rippin Toys Inc. and was convicted of conspiracy to violate the Clean Air Act in August 2022. In 2020, Hanzuk applied for an EIDL loan of over $100,000 and falsely certified that he and Arm Rippin Toys were not engaged in "any illegal activity," despite their active conspiracy to violate the Clean Air Act.
• Saray Consuelo Sarmiento Angarita Lockwood, 58, of Kenai, was sentenced to one year in prison on Dec. 18, 2023, after she and her late husband made a materially false statement in a bankruptcy case.
• Melissa Dobbs, 50, of the Matanuska Valley, was indicted in January 2024 on charges of healthcare fraud and allegedly making false statements on a loan application.
• Jayel Jean Lane, 34, of Anchorage, was sentenced to nine months in prison on Feb. 7, 2024, after she stole and misused Social Security benefits for roughly seven years. Lane stole over $76,000 in benefits that she applied for on behalf of a minor and spent the money for her own personal use.

Citizens and others who suspect fraud or other criminal wrongdoing related to the pandemic can report crimes by calling the Justice Department's National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form. Tips for all white-collar and financial crimes can also be submitted to the FBI at ic3.gov or tips.fbi.gov, the SBA OIG at sbax.sba.gov/oigcss/ or the IRS CI at www.irs.gov/compliance/criminal-investigation/reporting-fraud-and-abuse-within-the-irs-e-file-program.

On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Justice Department in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The task force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. For more information on the department's response to the pandemic, please visit www.justice.gov/coronavirus.

An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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Updated February 19, 2024