Man Sentenced to Twenty Months in Prison for COVID-19 Fraud

Summary

Press release of the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of New Jersey, dated May 30, 2025. U.S. Attorney Alina Habba announced that U.S. District Judge Madeline Cox Arleo sentenced George Leguen of Paramus, New Jersey, to 20 months in prison for fraudulently obtaining approximately $149,900 in federal Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL). Leguen previously pleaded guilty to an information charging wire fraud and money laundering. The release says that from August 2020 through January 2021 Leguen falsified the number of employees, annual gross revenue and federal tax returns in an SBA application for a business owned and controlled by Leguen, and was ordered to forfeit $149,900 and pay $174,426.37 in restitution.

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Full text

PRESS RELEASE


Bergen County Man Sentenced to Twenty
Months in Prison for COVID-19 Fraud
Friday, May 30, 2025

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of New Jersey

NEWARK N.J. – A New Jersey man was sentenced to 20 months in prison for
fraudulently obtaining approximately $149,900 in federal Economic Injury Disaster Loans
(“EIDL”) loans, U.S. Alina Habba announced.

George Leguen, 51, of Paramus, New Jersey, previously plead guilty before U.S. District
Judge Madeline Cox Arleo to an information charging him with wire fraud and money
laundering. Judge Arleo imposed the sentence in Newark federal court.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

From August 2020 through January 2021, Leguen participated in a scheme to defraud
and receive COVID-19 emergency relief funds meant for distressed small businesses
under the EIDL program. Leguen applied to the Small Business Administration (“SBA”)
on behalf of a business he owned and controlled. He falsified information that he
submitted in support of that application, including the number of employees, annual
gross revenue figures, and fraudulent federal tax returns. Based on this false
information, Leguen was approved for and received an EIDL loan in the amount of
$149,900. After receiving the EIDL funds, he diverted the proceeds for his personal gain.

In addition to the prison term, Judge Arleo sentenced Leguen to 3 years of supervised
release, forfeiture was ordered in the amount of $149,900, and restitution in the amount
of $174,426.37.

U.S. Attorney Habba credited special agents of Internal Revenue Service – Criminal
Investigation, Newark Field Office, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jenifer
Piovesan; the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Special Agent in
Charge Cheryl Ortiz of the New Jersey Field Division; special agents of the U.S. Secret
Service, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Aaron Hatley, Newark Field
Office; and special agents of the U.S. Department of Labor – Office of the Inspector
General, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jonathan Mellone, Northeast
Region, with the investigation.

The District of New Jersey COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Strike Force is one of five strike
forces established throughout the United States by the U.S. Department of Justice to
investigate and prosecute COVID-19 fraud. The strike forces focus on large-scale, multi-
state pandemic relief fraud perpetrated by criminal organizations and transnational
actors. The strike forces are interagency law enforcement efforts, using prosecutor-led
and data analyst-driven teams designed to identify and bring to justice those who stole
pandemic relief funds.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Fatime Meka Cano of the
Economic Crimes Unit in Newark.

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
Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form
at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

                                            ###

Defense counsel: Jeffrey Lichtman, Esq. and Matthew Cohan, Esq.

Updated May 30, 2025

Topics
CORONAVIRUS

FINANCIAL FRAUD
Component
USAO - New Jersey
Press Release Number: 25-175


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