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Joff Stenn Wroy Philossaint

Defendant

Type
Person
Role
Defendant
Updated

The profile

A 25-year-old Fort Lauderdale man, born in Haiti, who ran a $3.8 million COVID-19 relief fraud scheme while concealing it during his naturalization interview — sentenced to 50 months and separately convicted of unlawful procurement of citizenship.

Identity and role

Joff Stenn Wroy Philossaint, 25, of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, born in Haiti, was prosecuted in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida as the central organizer of a COVID-19 relief fraud ring. He was separately convicted of unlawfully procuring U.S. citizenship by concealing that criminal conduct during his naturalization process.

The scheme and pandemic-relief role

According to the Department of Justice, between April 2020 and May 2021, Philossaint orchestrated a scheme obtaining funds through companies he owned or controlled and by preparing loan applications for others in exchange for kickbacks, with applications containing materially false representations about applicants' revenues and payroll. The ring submitted 40 fraudulent EIDL applications on behalf of 11 businesses, obtaining approximately $3.8 million in total loan proceeds; Philossaint's personal take (combining loan proceeds and kickbacks) was approximately $549,000. Investigators from the U.S. Secret Service (Miami), SBA-OIG, FBI (Miami), IRS-CI (Florida), and HSI (Miami) worked the case.

Separately, DOJ alleged Philossaint applied for U.S. citizenship in February 2020 and, at his naturalization interview on December 15, 2020, made false statements concealing his criminal conduct; citizenship was granted February 9, 2021.

  • Charged: September 8, 2022, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
  • Pleaded guilty: to three conspiracy charges: wire fraud and two counts of money laundering.
  • Convicted by jury: of unlawful procurement of citizenship.
  • Sentenced: June 26, 2023 — 50 months in federal prison. The 11th Circuit affirmed the conviction and sentence on July 2, 2025, but vacated and remanded the forfeiture order after the government agreed there was a miscalculation.
  • Citizenship revoked: February 23, 2026, by U.S. District Judge Rodney Smith.

Where they are now (2025–2026)

We found no later disposition beyond the February 2026 denaturalization and the pending forfeiture recalculation on remand.

Sources

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