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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, including the case against PPP lender MBE Capital Partners.

  • 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.

Damian Williams was U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York from 2021 to 2024.1 His office's biggest pandemic case was against a lender: Rafael Martinez of MBE Capital Partners, who issued about $823 million in PPP loans to some 36,600 businesses, earned about $71.3 million in fees, and was sentenced to 54 months.23 Williams is named in at least 22 Southern District releases on pandemic-relief fraud, counted by distinct release URLs, dated October 25, 2021 to December 11, 2024.

Who he is

Williams was an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District from 2012 to 2021 and chief of its Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force from 2018 to 2021, according to his later law firm.1 The Justice Department published his investiture speech under the date November 19, 2021. In it he set four priorities (gun violence, financial corruption, outreach across the district and the office's staff) and announced a new Civil Rights Unit in the Criminal Division.4 His own site says he led a staff of about 450 and was the first Black U.S. Attorney for the district.5

Pandemic-relief prosecutions

The MBE Capital lender case. On March 23, 2023 the office announced that Martinez pled guilty to conspiring to commit wire fraud over 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 of about $283,764 for MBE through false statements about employee numbers and wages and a forged tax-preparer signature. Through MBE he issued about $823 million in PPP loans to about 36,600 businesses and earned about $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 the 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 The restitution is within about $400,000 of the fees the plea release says MBE earned. The lender's PPP book is at MBE Capital Partners.

Borrower-side prosecutions. The earliest of the 22 releases, on October 25, 2021, 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."6 On November 30, 2022 the office, with IRS Criminal Investigation and SBA-OIG, announced complaints charging seventeen New York City and State public employees with wire fraud or conspiracy over fraudulent EIDL and PPP applications; the charges were allegations at announcement.7 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 in a $14.7 million scheme, two of them also with aggravated identity theft.8 On October 23, 2023 the office announced that Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil had sentenced Adedayo Ilori to 25 years in prison. The sentence was for an identity-theft and COVID-19 loan fraud scheme involving more than $10 million; he had been convicted at trial in November 2022.910 The district's cases are listed at S.D.N.Y. prosecutions.

Civil False Claims Act recoveries. On June 20, 2024 the office and SBA-OIG announced a $4.6 million False Claims Act settlement with four New York restaurants, two New Jersey fur-apparel companies and five individuals who owned or managed them. It resolved claims that they inflated payroll figures in PPP loan and forgiveness applications, including by listing the same people as full-time employees of several businesses.11 On December 11, 2024, the latest of the 22 releases, the office announced a $1.47 million civil settlement with Stefano Maroni, owner of two footwear companies that each took first- and second-draw PPP loans. The release says the two "operated essentially the same footwear design and importation business"; the government alleged he double-counted shared employees' salaries.12

Since 2025

On June 6, 2025 Jenner & Block announced that Williams had joined as a partner in New York and co-chair of its Litigation Department and its Investigations, Compliance, and Defense practice. The firm's announcement lists cases his office brought against Sam Bankman-Fried, Senator Bob Menendez and Bill Hwang, and says he chaired the Attorney General's Advisory Committee.1

Documents on this site

Original source documents and archived copies

Sources

  1. Jenner & Block, "Damian Williams, Former US Attorney for SDNY, Joins Jenner & Block as Co-Chair of Litigation Department and Investigations, Compliance, and Defense Practice," June 6, 2025. Original: https://www.jenner.com/en/news-insights/news/damian-williams-former-us-attorney-for-the-southern-district-of-new-york-joins-jenner-and-block-as-co-chair-of-litigation-department-and-investigations-compliance-and-defense-practice ↩
  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. Original: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/ceo-paycheck-protection-program-lender-mbe-capital-pleads-guilty-connection-fraudulent CEO of PPP Lender MBE Capital Pleads Guilty (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. Original: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/ceo-paycheck-protection-program-lender-mbe-capital-sentenced-54-months-prison CEO of PPP Lender MBE Capital Sentenced to 54 Months (stored capture) ↩
  4. U.S. Attorney's Office, S.D.N.Y., "U.S. Attorney Damian Williams's Investiture Speech," page dated Nov. 19, 2021. Original: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/speech/us-attorney-damian-williamss-investiture-speech ↩
  5. Damian Williams, official website, "About". Original: https://www.damianwilliamsofficial.com/ ↩
  6. 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. Original: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/manhattan-man-pleads-guilty-69-million-scheme-defraud-loan-program-intended-help-small ↩
  7. 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. Original: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/seventeen-new-york-city-and-state-public-employees-charged-fraudulently-obtaining ↩
  8. 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. ↩
  9. 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. ↩
  10. U.S. Attorney's Office, S.D.N.Y., "Recidivist Fraudster Convicted At Trial Of Over $10 Million COVID-19 Loan Fraud," Nov. 1, 2022. ↩
  11. 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. Original: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/us-attorney-announces-46-million-false-claims-act-settlement-restaurants-fur-apparel; court record: complaint-in-intervention of the United States, United States ex rel. Saites v. Spyropoulos, No. 22 Civ. 7001 (S.D.N.Y.) and proposed stipulation and order of settlement and dismissal. ↩
  12. 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. Original: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/us-attorney-reaches-147-million-civil-fraud-settlement-owner-footwear-business ↩
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