Joseph Kaminski, 58, of Nanticoke, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, has been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges related to pandemic fraud. The indictment was announced by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.
According to Acting United States Attorney John C. Gurganus, Kaminski is accused of defrauding the Small Business Administration (SBA) out of more than $850,000 in emergency pandemic funds from the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program between January 2020 and January 2025. The indictment also alleges that Kaminski obtained over $40,000 in Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) benefits through deception involving the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry.
The investigation was conducted by IRS-Criminal Investigations and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jeffery St John and Tatum Wilson are prosecuting the case.
“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,” according to information provided by officials. Additional details about these efforts can be found at https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus.
Anyone who has information about attempted COVID-19 fraud can report it through the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud Hotline at 866-720-5721 or online via https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.
If convicted on all counts, Kaminski faces a maximum penalty under federal law of up to 20 years in prison as well as supervised release after imprisonment and a fine. Sentencing will be determined by a judge after consideration of federal statutes and sentencing guidelines.
Officials remind that indictments are only allegations; those charged are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
