A McKinney man has been sentenced to over 24 years in federal prison in a COVID-fraud conspiracy

Summary

A U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Texas press release dated 2025-07-25 announcing that U.S. District Judge Amos L. Mazzant on July 24, 2025 sentenced Olamide Olatayo Bello of McKinney to 293 months in federal prison after a trial conviction for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. According to the release, Bello devised and orchestrated a conspiracy to defraud the United States of millions of dollars during the pandemic, recruited others and completed or submitted false PPP and EIDL applications for himself and his co-defendants. It states that he received proceeds and "kickbacks" from the scheme and that the judge imposed the statutory maximum. The release gives no loan totals.

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“A McKinney man has been sentenced to over 24 years in federal prison in a COVID-fraud conspiracy.” Original at www.justice.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/2025-07-25-collin-county-man-sentenced-to-over-24-years-in-federal-pri-fb8d651425/, SHA-256 d10bf4ce703dc91e002bdaaaccf396fb126758bb43403016e636834e9841864d.

Full text

SHERMAN, Texas – A McKinney man has been sentenced to over 24 years in federal prison in a COVID - fraud conspiracy in the Eastern District of Texas, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Jay R. Combs.
Olamide Olatayo Bello was found guilty at trial to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering and was sentenced to 293 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Amos L. Mazzant on July 24, 2025. Judge Mazzant sentenced Bello to the statutory maximum allowed by federal guidelines.
According to information presented in court, Bello devised and orchestrated a conspiracy to defraud the United States of millions of dollars during the COVID-19 pandemic. Bello fraudulently acquired government loans, which were designed to provide financial assistance to legitimate small businesses in need, and recruited others in an elaborate scheme. In so doing, Bello took advantage of government programs and used those funds for his personal gain and enrichment.
In March 2020, Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, Economic Security (CARES) Act, which was designed to provide emergency financial assistance to millions of Americans who suffered due to the COVID-19 pandemic. These included the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program (EIDL). The EIDL program provided low-interest financing to small businesses, renters, and homeowners in regions affected by declared disasters. Bello assisted and/or completed and submitted materially false applications for COVID government program benefits for himself and his co-defendants. The defendant received proceeds and “kickbacks” for the fraud scheme.
“People who exploit our system to steal public money from the citizens of this country are engaged in despicable behavior,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Jay R. Combs. “Let this sentence serve as a clear message: anyone who endeavors to steal from the public coffers within our jurisdiction will be pursued and held fully accountable under the law.”
This case was investigated by FBI, Department of the Interior, and the Small Business Administration. This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Chalana A. Oliver.
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Our copy: 2025-07-25_collin-county-man-sentenced-to-over-24-years-in-federal-prison-for-covid_0299b723.md.txt
Original: www.justice.gov