Milwaukee man among 4 people found guilty of scheme to defraud federal COVID relief programs

An $11.5 million scheme that prosecutors say involved a non-existent country and its fictional consulate ended last week with fraud convictions against a Milwaukee man and three Illinois co-conspirators.

A federal grand jury in August returned an 18-count indictment charging Aziz Hassan Bey (also known as Chauncey Hooks) of Milwaukee, Letez Osiris Bey (AKA Devone Robinson), Minister Zakar Ali (AKA Anthony Allen) and Divine-Seven El (AKA Mark Stevens or Mark Nesbit) with conspiracy to commit fraud and mail and wire fraud. Aziz Bey and Seven El also were charged with money laundering.

Through a variety of schemes the defendants attempted to fraudulently pocket about $11.5 million from two federal programs designed to help businesses that were struggling through the COVID-19 pandemic, the indictment and prosecutors charged. Prosecutors charged during the week-long trial that the defendants targeted loans from the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program and the Paycheck Protection Program.

The scheme ran from June 2020 through July 2021, prosecutors charged. They believe the foursome fraudulently collected nearly $1 million.

As part of the scheme, prosecutors say, the Consulate of Al Moroc was incorporated in 2018. Aziz Bey was listed as the registered agent and director for the fictional consulate office, state records show.

During the trial an official from the State Department testified that Al Moroc is not a country recognized by the U.S. and that it has no diplomatic status.

Prosecutors noted the address the defendants used for al Moroc is actually a duplex in Milwaukee.

In addition, prosecutors charged that Aziz Bey, Ali and El falsified records submitted to the state in order to defraud lenders by removing liens from the titles of luxury cars they owned, including a Corvette a BMW and a Land Rover. Titles for those vehicles were mailed to the address used by the fictitious Consulate in Milwaukee, prosecutors charged.

"As a result of the defendants false and misleading statements and omissions, the Wisconsin Department of Motor Vehicles issued titles to A. Bey and the Consulate for multiple vehicles free and clear of any liens held by lenders," the indictment states.

Prosecutors argued during the trial that the foursome shared the proceeds from the fraud among themselves with some of it used to buy luxury items such as jewelry and cars.

"The jury's verdicts reflect the fact these defendants sought to enrich themselves at the expense of taxpayers," Greg Haanstad, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin said in a statement. "In addition to fraud targeting private businesses, they sought to take unlawful advantage of programs meant to help individuals, businesses and the entire economy survive the impact of the pandemic."

Prosecutors also said that, in order to obtain the federal loans, the defendants submitted "loan applications that contained materially false representations" including that the applicants were "functional and operational businesses."

In addition, they falsely claimed on the applications that the "loan proceeds covered business expenses" and included "false figures of the businesses' number of employees, monthly payroll expenses, gross revenues and costs of goods sold," the indictment charged.

The government also charged the defendants with defrauding the U.S. Small Business Administration out of $775,000.

The foursome are scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 1, 2024.

In an unrelated matter Bey is charged with illegally possessing a machine gun. That case is also expected to go to trial next year.

Contact Cary Spivak at (414) 550-0070 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @cspivak.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee man guilty in $11 million COVID relief fraud scheme