Lehigh Acres Man Arrested In Connection With Multi-Million Dollar COVID Relief Fraud Scheme

Fort Myers, FL – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces the arrest of Lester John Parker, Jr. (55, Lehigh Acres) on a 15-count indictment related to his alleged involvement in a multi-million-dollar COVID-19 relief fraud scheme. Parker’s charges include one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, five counts of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, one count of access device fraud, four counts of aggravated identity theft, and three counts of engaging in monetary transactions in criminally derived property. If convicted, Parker faces up to 20 years in federal prison for each count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. He faces up to 10 years’ imprisonment for each count of access device fraud and engaging in monetary transactions in criminally derived property. The aggravated identity theft counts carry a mandatory penalty of 2 years in federal prison consecutive to any other penalties imposed.  

According to the indictment and court records, between 2020 and 2021 Parker devised a scheme to defraud the United States Small Business Administration (SBA) and various SBA-approved lenders by submitting fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan applications which included forged bank statements and IRS records. PPP loans were one of the sources of economic relief provided by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Parker has been linked to dozens of fraudulent PPP loan applications which resulted in more than $3 million in fraudulent loan payouts in 2020 and 2021. 

An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.

This case was investigated by the United State Secret Service. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Simon Eth.

In May 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The task force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts.

For more information on the department's response to the pandemic, please visit Justice.gov/Coronavirus and Justice.gov/Coronavirus/Combating Fraud. Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice's National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline via the NCDF Web Complaint Form.