CSRA man gets prison time for $4.5M in COVID aid fraud

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - A Richmond County man was sentenced to federal prison for conducting a $4.5 million scheme to submit fraudulent applications for COVID-19 small business relief funding.

Kamario Thomas, 42, of Augusta, was sentenced to 38 months in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering, according to U.S. Attorney Jill Steinberg.

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Thomas itted completing false and fraudulent Economic Injury Disaster Loan applications for himself and receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars in kickbacks for submitting fraudulent applications for others.

To create those applications, Thomas fabricated IRS forms and tax records.

In total, the scheme caused the disbursement of more than $4.5 million in fraudulent CARES Act loans and grants.

U.S. District Court Chief Judge J. Randal Hall also ordered Thomas to pay $4.5 million in restitution to the U.S. Small Business istration and to serve three years of supervised release upon completion of his prison term.

“Greed has no place in the relief programs intended to aid the nation’s hardworking small business owners who struggled during the pandemic,” said Keri Farley, special agent in charge of FBI Atlanta. “This sentence should serve as an example to others that the FBI will work with our law enforcement partners to stop people like Thomas who illegally profit from these programs and hurt law-abiding business owners.”