Woman defrauds lenders, uses COVID-19 funds for gambling, lavish lifestyle

FLORIDA — A Florida woman has been sentenced to federal prison after using wrongly obtained COVID-19 funds for gambling and laundering money, said the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida (USAO).

On Feb. 5, Maritza Morales Hermoso, 58, of Miami, was sentenced to 70 months in federal prison for money laundering of nearly $2 million in fraudulent COVID-19 relief loans after previously pleading guilty in October 2023.

According to the USAO, from April 2020 through April 2021, Ms. Hermoso and others, including co-defendant Javier Lazo Cabrera, conspired to defraud private lenders and the Small Business Administration (SBA) by filing false and fraudulent loan applications for multiple companies under both the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) Program.

Several of those companies had no payroll and were not actively doing business when the loan applications were submitted, said the USAO.

According to reports, the applications included fabricated payroll records and inflated employee counts. As a result of these false and fraudulent applications, a California-based SBA-approved PPP lender disbursed close to $2 million in fraudulent loan proceeds to bank accounts controlled by Ms. Hermoso.

According to the USAO, Ms. Hermoso spent the proceeds from the fraudulent PPP and EIDL loans on gambling at South Florida casinos and various other personal expenses like cosmetic surgery, a Cadillac Escalade, and a Pomeranian puppy. Ms. Hermoso is said to have disguised her misuse of funds by laundering the loan proceeds through multiple unrelated business accounts and withdrawing the money in cash.

Ms. Hermoso’s co-defendant, Mr. Cabrera, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in December 2023. His sentencing is scheduled for March 11 at 8:30 a.m. in Miami. Mr. Cabrera faces up to 20 years in federal prison.

U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida, Special Agent in Charge Rafael Barros of the U.S. Secret Service (USSS), Miami Field Office, SBA OIG’s Eastern Region Special Agent in Charge Amaleka McCall-Brathwaite, U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Inspector General (SBA OIG), Investigations Division’s Eastern Region, and Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey B. Veltri of FBI, Miami Field Office announced the sentence.

USSS Miami, SBA OIG, Investigations Division’s Eastern Region, and FBI Miami investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joseph Egozi and Roger Cruz prosecuted the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mitchell Evan Hyman is handling asset forfeiture.