Michigan Man Pleads Guilty to COVID-19 Fraud

Summary

Press release of the U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Kentucky, dated August 15, 2025. Malcolm Culmer, a Michigan man, pleaded guilty before Chief Judge David Bunning to wire fraud and money laundering in a scheme to unlawfully obtain COVID-19 pandemic relief benefits. According to the plea agreement, from April 2020 to July 2021 he submitted eight EIDL applications on behalf of fictitious companies, attempting $1,091,499 in loans, of which $187,500 was approved, and obtained $39,496 in Kentucky unemployment benefits through a false application. He laundered funds by withdrawing cash, moving money between bank accounts and buying automobiles for a vehicle rental business. Sentencing is scheduled for December 16, with a maximum of 20 years.

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Full text

PRESS RELEASE


Michigan Man Pleads Guilty to COVID-19
Fraud
Friday, August 15, 2025

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Kentucky

COVINGTON, Ky. – A Michigan man, Malcolm Culmer, 36, pleaded guilty before Chief
U.S. District Judge David Bunning to wire fraud and money laundering arising out of a
scheme to unlawfully obtain various COVID-19 pandemic relief benefits.

In 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, passed in
response to the COVID-19 pandemic, established several new unemployment
compensation programs that were funded primarily by the federal government and
administered by state workforce agencies. Later that same year, the President
authorized the Federal Emergency Management Agency to expend money for lost wage
assistance, as a supplement to unemployment compensation programs. The CARES Act
also expanded existing federal programs, including the Economic Injury Disaster Loan
(EIDL) Program administered by the Small Business Administration (SBA). The EIDL
Program provides loans for small businesses suffering from an economic disaster.

According to his plea agreement, from April 2020 to July 2021, Culmer made material
false statements in order to obtain money from various government relief and COVID-
19 relief programs. Culmer fabricated information about employment history, residence,
and business ventures, and applied for relief funds using that false information. In total,
Culmer submitted eight EIDL applications on behalf of fictitious companies, attempting
$1,091,499 in EIDL loans, of which $187,500 was approved.

Similarly, Culmer also applied for pandemic unemployment benefits in Kentucky, which
contained false statements and representations. His fraudulent application was
approved, and he obtained $39,496 in unemployment benefits.

As to the money laundering charge, Culmer engaged in several transactions over
$10,000 using the fraudulently obtained funds, including by withdrawing cash,
transferring money between bank accounts, and purchasing automobiles to expand a
vehicle rental business.
Paul McCaffrey, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky;
Joseph V. Cuffari Ph.D., Inspector General, Department of Homeland Security (DHS-OIG);
and Mathew Broadhurst, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Department of Labor, Office of
Inspector General (DOL-OIG), Southeast Region, jointly announced the guilty plea.

The investigation was conducted by DHS-OIG and DOL-OIG. Assistant U.S. Attorney
Brittany Dunn-Pirio is prosecuting the matter on behalf of the United States.

Culmer is scheduled to appear for sentencing on December 16. He faces a maximum of
20 years in prison. However, the Court must consider the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and
the applicable federal sentencing statutes before imposing its sentence.

On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement
Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with
agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-
related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most
culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with
administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, among other methods, augmenting
and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and
techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing
information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. For more information
on the Department’s response to the pandemic, please visit
https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus.

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

                                      — END —

Contact
CONTACT: Gabrielle Dudgeon

PHONE: (859) 685-4887

E-MAIL: gabrielle.dudgeon@usdoj.gov



Updated August 15, 2025
Topic
CORONAVIRUS

Component
USAO - Kentucky, Eastern


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