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Damian Williams
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ProfilePerson

Damian Williams

Oversight and enforcement

PPP · EIDL
Type
Person
Role
Oversight and enforcement
Programs
PPP, EIDL
Updated

The profile

U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York during the office's pandemic-relief fraud prosecutions.

  • Pandemic-program role: U.S. Attorney, Southern District of New York.
  • Institution — office: DOJ · U.S. Attorney's Office, S.D.N.Y. · Type: Senate-confirmed federal prosecutor
  • Tenure (relief-relevant): Investiture November 19, 2021; named as the U.S. Attorney announcing Southern District pandemic-fraud cases in releases from October 25, 2021 to December 11, 2024.

Identity and role

Damian Williams served as United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. The Justice Department published the text of his investiture speech for the district under the date Friday, November 19, 2021; in it he set out four priorities (gun violence, financial corruption, community outreach across the district, and the office's staff) and announced a new Civil Rights Unit in the office's Criminal Division.1 Justice Department releases identify him as "Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York."234

Pandemic-relief / PPP-EIDL role

Williams is named as the United States Attorney in at least 22 Southern District press releases (counted by distinct release URLs), dated October 25, 2021 to December 11, 2024, announcing pandemic-relief fraud charges, pleas, sentences and civil settlements.

The MBE Capital lender case. The office announced on March 23, 2023 that Rafael Martinez of MBE Capital Partners pled guilty to conspiring to commit wire fraud in connection with loan and lender applications submitted through the PPP: he used false representations and documents to get SBA approval for MBE as a non-bank PPP lender, and obtained a PPP loan for MBE of approximately $283,764 through false statements about employee numbers and wages and a forged tax-preparer signature. Through MBE he issued approximately $823 million in PPP loans to approximately 36,600 businesses, earning approximately $71.3 million in fees.2 Williams is quoted in the plea announcement: "In the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic, Martinez lied to get money that was supposed to help people."2

On July 27, 2023 the office announced Martinez's sentence: 54 months in prison, three years of supervised release, forfeiture of $44,546,712.94 plus properties and vehicles, restitution of $71,711,893.07 and a $100 special assessment. The release credits IRS Criminal Investigation, the SBA Office of Inspector General, and the Office of Inspector General for the Federal Reserve Board and the CFPB.3

Borrower-side prosecutions. The earliest of those 22 releases is dated October 25, 2021: the office announced a guilty plea to a scheme to obtain $6.9 million in government-guaranteed loans "designed to provide relief to small businesses during the novel coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic."4 On November 30, 2022 the office, with IRS Criminal Investigation and SBA-OIG, announced the unsealing of complaints charging seventeen New York City and State public employees with wire fraud or conspiracy in connection with fraudulent SBA loan applications under the EIDL program and the PPP; the charges were allegations at announcement.5 On June 6, 2023 the office and the FBI announced a complaint charging six defendants with conspiring to commit wire fraud through fraudulent PPP applications, two of them also with aggravated identity theft.6 On October 23, 2023 the office announced a 25-year prison sentence in an identity-theft and COVID-19 loan fraud case involving more than $10 million.7

Civil False Claims Act recoveries. On June 20, 2024 the office and SBA-OIG announced a False Claims Act settlement with four New York restaurants, two New Jersey fur-apparel companies and five individuals who owned or managed them, resolving claims that they inflated payroll figures in PPP loan and forgiveness applications, including by listing the same people as full-time employees of multiple businesses.8 On December 11, 2024, the latest of the 22 releases, the office announced a $1.47 million civil fraud settlement with the owner of two related footwear companies over first-draw and second-draw PPP loans, on allegations that the two entities operated essentially the same business and that shared employees' salaries were double-counted.9

Where they are now (2025–2026)

The Justice Department releases cited on this page end in December 2024 and do not record his position after that.

Sources held in this archive

Original source documents and archived captures

Sources

  1. U.S. Attorney's Office, S.D.N.Y., "U.S. Attorney Damian Williams's Investiture Speech," page dated Nov. 19, 2021 (captured Sept. 18, 2026; text extract). Archive: investiture speech · U.S. Attorney Damian Williams Investiture Speech 2021 11 19 Text (original: justice.gov) ↩
  2. U.S. Attorney's Office, S.D.N.Y., "CEO Of Paycheck Protection Program Lender MBE Capital Pleads Guilty In Connection With Fraudulent Loan And Lender Applications," Mar. 23, 2023. Archive: 2023-03-23 MBE Capital plea · 2023 03 23 Ceo Of Paycheck Protection Program Lender Mbe Capital Pleads Guilty In C 7adb76ea (original: justice.gov · stored capture) ↩
  3. U.S. Attorney's Office, S.D.N.Y., "CEO Of Paycheck Protection Program Lender MBE Capital Sentenced To 54 Months In Prison In Connection With Fraudulent Loan And Lender Applications," July 27, 2023. Archive: 2023-07-27 MBE Capital sentencing · 2023 07 27 Ceo Of Paycheck Protection Program Lender Mbe Capital Sentenced To 54 Mo 6829ce79 (original: justice.gov · stored capture) ↩
  4. U.S. Attorney's Office, S.D.N.Y., "Manhattan Man Pleads Guilty To $6.9 Million Scheme To Defraud Loan Program Intended To Help Small Businesses During COVID-19 Pandemic," Oct. 25, 2021. Archive: 2021-10-25 plea · Manhattan Man Pleads Guilty in $6.9 Million Loan Program Scheme (original: justice.gov) ↩
  5. U.S. Attorney's Office, S.D.N.Y., "Seventeen New York City And State Public Employees Charged With Fraudulently Obtaining Pandemic Relief Loans," Nov. 30, 2022. Archive: 2022-11-30 charges · Seventeen New York Public Employees Charged in Relief Loan Fraud (original: justice.gov) ↩
  6. U.S. Attorney's Office, S.D.N.Y., "Six Defendants Charged In $14.7 Million Scheme To Fraudulently Obtain Pandemic Relief Loans," June 6, 2023. Archive: 2023-06-06 charges ↩
  7. U.S. Attorney's Office, S.D.N.Y., "Recidivist Fraudster Sentenced To 25 Years In Prison For Over $10 Million COVID-19 Loan Fraud Scheme," Oct. 23, 2023. Archive: 2023-10-23 sentencing ↩
  8. U.S. Attorney's Office, S.D.N.Y., "U.S. Attorney Announces $4.6 Million False Claims Act Settlement With Restaurants, Fur Apparel Companies, And Their Owners And Managers For Submitting False Information To Obtain Paycheck Protection Program Loans," June 20, 2024. Archive: 2024-06-20 settlement · U.S. Attorney Announces $4.6 Million False Claims Act Settlement (original: justice.gov) ↩
  9. U.S. Attorney's Office, S.D.N.Y., "U.S. Attorney Reaches $1.47 Million Civil Fraud Settlement With Owner Of Footwear Business For Submitting False Information To Obtain Paycheck Protection Program Loans," Dec. 11, 2024. Archive: 2024-12-11 settlement · U.S. Attorney Reaches $1.47 Million Civil Fraud Settlement (original: justice.gov) ↩
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