MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) – A Memphis woman has been sentenced to a year in federal prison for defrauding state and federal COVID-19 relief programs of more than half a million dollars.
Karen Guevara, 38, is the third Memphis woman to be convicted of these schemes in federal court, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Tennessee.
Prosecutors say Guevara and her two co-conspirators fraudulently gained more than $560,000 in federal unemployment relief across more than 20 states during the first year of the coronavirus pandemic.
They also obtained around $20,000 from the Tennessee Emergency Cash Assistance program by creating fake termination notices for themselves and others.
On February 13, Guevara was sentenced to one year and a day of incarceration to be followed by three years of supervised release for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and making false claims…
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This type of fraud targets the supply chain and accounts payable departments of businesses.
- Invoice Manipulation: Criminals intercept a legitimate invoice between a supplier and a client and change the banking details to their own. The client pays the bill thinking they are paying their trusted vendor.
- Kickbacks and Bribery: A vendor secretly pays an employee of the purchasing company to ensure their bid is successful or to overlook inflated pricing.