Scranton man indicted for pandemic relief fraud [Video]

HARRISBURG, Pa. — A Scranton man has been indicted in U.S. Middle District Court with 41 counts of mail fraud, providing false statements to the Small Business Administration, identity theft, unlawful monetary transactions, and witness tampering, U.S. Attorney Gerard M. Karam said Wednesday.

Yoel Weiss, 42, is accused of filing at least seven fraudulent applications for pandemic stimulus funds through the Economic Injury and Disaster Loan program, Karam said in a press release. Weiss owned multiple corporate entities in Pennsylvania and New York at the time.

He is also charged with seven counts of wire fraud and seven counts of making false statements to the U.S. Small Business Administration for the fraudulent applications, along with three counts of aggravated identity theft for using stolen identities to …