A 52-year-old Bronx banker was convicted by a federal jury of fraud and money laundering on June 18 related to COVID-19 pandemic federal aid, according to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).
Anuli Okeke — the former vice president and manager of the 125th Street New York branch of Popular Bank — was booked for conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud, wire fraud, bank fraud and money laundering conspiracy by a federal jury in Brooklyn on June 18. The DOJ said the charges arose out of the Bronx woman’s scheme to fraudulently obtain approximately $3.4 million of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program dollars during the “height” of the pandemic.
In the statement about Okeke’s conviction, Breon Peace — the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York — said the verdict “reaffirms” the agency’s commitment to crack down on people “who took advantage of a global crisis to commit crimes.”
“While the global pandemic caused widespread economic and personal harm for so many, the defendant abused her trusted position at a bank to steal millions of dollars from programs designed to keep small businesses afloat and workers on payroll,” Peace said.
According to the DOJ, the investigation into Okeke’s wrongdoing revealed that she and seven co-conspirators from both within and outside the bank fabricated loan and tax documents to help them steal PPP and EIDL funds. The DOJ said they did this by knowingly submitting — and helping people make — false statements on their PPP and EIDL applications, then pocketing some of the funds disbursed to borrowers, some of which who were “legitimate PPP recipients.”
Investigators also said Okeke submitted her own falsified EIDL application, and found notes in her work desk that said, “I am making more than enough money,” “money comes to me easily,” “I am grateful I make $15k every month,” and “I have an extra $5,000 every…
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