A federal grand jury has indicted Joseph Kaminski, 58, of Nanticoke, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, on charges related to pandemic fraud. The indictment, announced by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, includes allegations of wire fraud, money laundering, and making false statements to the Small Business Administration (SBA).
According to Acting United States Attorney John C. Gurganus, “the indictment alleges that from approximately January 2020 to approximately January 2025, Kaminski engaged in a scheme to defraud the SBA of over $850,000.00 in emergency pandemic funding made available to small business owners through the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (‘EIDL’) program. The indictment also alleges that Kaminski fraudulently obtained over $40,000.00 of Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (‘PUA’) benefits to which he was not entitled by deceiving 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.
In May 2021, the Attorney General created the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to coordinate efforts across government agencies in addressing pandemic-related fraud. The task force works with agencies responsible for administering relief programs and shares information from previous enforcement actions. More details about these efforts can be found at https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus.
Those who have information about possible COVID-19 fraud are encouraged to report it through the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via its online complaint form at https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.
If convicted on all charges, Kaminski faces up to 20 years in prison as well as supervised release and a fine. Sentencing will be determined by a judge according to federal statutes and guidelines.
Authorities emphasized that indictments are only allegations and that those charged are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
