United States of America v. James Joseph Cohen

Boston, Massachusetts criminal law lawyer represented defendant charged with engaging in scheme to obtain Paycheck Protection Program funds made available under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act by submitting false applications.



James Joseph Cohen, 59, pleaded guilty to one count of bank fraud.



Between April 2020 and September 2021, Cohen submitted six false applications to financial institutions and to the Small Business Administration to obtain pandemic-related relief funds on behalf of companies that he controlled. In the applications, Cohen falsely misstated the revenues of the companies, the persons employed, or amounts paid to those employees in the 12-month period preceding the application. In total, Cohen fraudulently obtained approximately $1.2 million in pandemic relief funds based upon these false submissions.



The charge of bank fraud provides a sentence of up to 30 years in prison, five years of supervised release and a fine of up to $1 million or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.



United States Attorney Rachael S. Rollins; Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division; and Joleen D. Simpson, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service's Criminal Investigations in Boston made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mackenzie A. Queenin of Rollins' Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit is prosecuting the case.



18 U.S.C. § 1344- BANK FRAUD

(1)

07/26/2022 31 Assented to MOTION to Conduct Rule 11 Hearing via Video as to James Joseph Cohen. (Lauer, Scott) (Entered: 07/26/2022)

07/26/2022 32 Judge Rya W. Zobel: ENDORSED ORDER entered granting 31 Motion to conduct Rule 11 via video as to James Joseph Cohen (1) (Urso, Lisa) (Entered: 07/26/2022)



Defendant pleaded guilty.