FLORIDA — A Lee County man has been arrested on charges related to a multi-million-dollar COVID-19 relief fraud scheme, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida (USAO) has announced.
According to the USAO, Lester John Parker, Jr., 55, of Lehigh Acres, is facing 15 counts, including conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, access device fraud, aggravated identity theft, and engaging in monetary transactions with criminally derived property.
Mr Parker is accused of submitting fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan applications that included falsified bank statements and IRS documents, resulting in more than $3 million in fraudulent loan payouts between 2020 and 2021…