Ohio man sentenced for $60k COVID relief fraud

CLEVELAND (WJW) — A Chesterland man was sentenced to prison and ordered to pay restitution for COVID-19 relief fraud.

Robert Bearden, 49, pleaded guilty to charges accusing him of fraudulently collecting around $60,000 in Economic Injury Disaster Loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration under the CARES Act, according to a release from the Ohio Department of Justice.

Court documents say Bearden used false information about existing and non-existing businesses and also the name of third parties in return for a kickback of a portion of the funds received.

Bearden also used the personal ID information of people interested in government pandemic assistance to submit loan applications on their behalf, but putting the funds into his own account, the release says.

This case was investigated by the FBI and IRS – Criminal Investigations.