Man charged with wire fraud, money laundering

A Sparta resident was indicted on three counts of wire fraud and one count of money laundering Tuesday, July 2 in connection with two federal programs related to the coronavirus pandemic, U.S. Attorney Philip Sellinger said.

He was accused of fraudulently obtaining millions of dollars in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funds and Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL).

Nikenson Jean Mathurin, also known as Nik Mathurin and Jean Mathurin, 44, previously was charged in the same scheme.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court, Mathurin participated in a scheme to defraud a lender and the Small Business Administration to obtain federal COVID-19 emergency relief money from April 2020 through November 2022.

He was accused of submitting several fraudulent PPP and EIDL applications on behalf of several purported businesses. The applications included false information about the applicants’ average monthly payroll, gross revenue and number of employees and fake supporting tax documents, officials said.

As a result of the fraudulent applications, Mathurin allegedly obtained millions of dollars in federal COVID-19 emergency relief money.

Each wire fraud charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, and the money laundering charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. Each charge also carries a maximum fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain to the defendant or gross loss to the victim, whichever is greatest.

Sellinger credited special agents of the Northeast Region of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Office of Inspector General, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Robert Manchak, and special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jenifer Piovesan, with the investigation leading to the indictment.

The District of New Jersey COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Strike Force is one of five strike forces established throughout the country by the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate and prosecute COVID-19 fraud. The strike forces focus on large-scale, multi-state pandemic relief fraud perpetrated by criminal organizations and transnational actors.

Anyone with information about attempted fraud involving COVID-19 may report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form online at justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form