A Philadelphia businesswoman, Nyesha D. Paris, was sentenced to 20 months in prison for engaging in multiple fraud schemes resulting in over $600,000 in losses. United States District Court Judge Joel H. Slomsky delivered the sentence, which includes five years of supervised release, an order to pay $545,993 in restitution to victims, a forfeiture money judgment of $84,008, and the completion of 150 hours of community service.
United States Attorney David Metcalf announced the sentence, along with details of the fraudulent schemes that Paris, also known as Nyesha D. Henderson and Nyesha D. Jackson, orchestrated over several years. Despite the evidence gathered against her, Paris continued her fraudulent activities even after being confronted by the FBI and being informed that she was under investigation.
Paris was indicted in February 2023 and pleaded guilty in January 2024 to charges including conspiracy to commit wire fraud, bank fraud, and health care fraud. Her fraudulent activities spanned from at least 2018 to 2023, affecting 15 different victims.
Among the various schemes, Paris and accomplices stole over $40,000 in merchandise and gift cards from Lowe’s Home Improvement using a shell company and fraudulent business accounts. She also fraudulently secured over $120,000 in pandemic assistance loans through the Paycheck Protection Program by manipulating payroll data, submitting false documents, and falsely certifying her companies' operational status as of February 2020.
Another scheme involved fraudulently billing Medicaid for nearly $150,000 in home health services that were never provided by her business. In total, these activities comprised more than a dozen fraud schemes instigated by Paris.
The case was managed under the investigation of the FBI and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys David Ignall and Samuel Dalke.
