SLO County man accusing of stealing identities to get $1.5 million in COVID aid
An Arroyo Grande real estate developer was arraigned in federal court Thursday after allegedly using at least eight different identities to illegally obtain money for coronavirus aid.
Alfred E. Nevis, 52, is accused of illegally obtaining Economic Injury Disaster Loans that were distributed by the Small Business Administration under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act between April 1, 2020 and at least Aug. 6, 2020, the U.S. Department of Justice in a news release.
He entered a not guilty plea at his arraignment.
Federal officials say Nevis used the identities of multiple people he knew — including current and former employees, business associates and their spouses — to get low-interest loans meant to help small businesses stay afloat as they were adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Nevis is alleged to have used the stolen identities to register straw corporations, obtain employee identification numbers from the IRS and submit loan applications to the Small Business Administration on behalf of newly-registered corporations.
For example, Isley Farms, one of Nevis’s alleged straw corporations registered in Oregon, said it had 12 employees and generated more than $725,000 in revenue in a the year ending in January 2020.
Between April 1, 2020 and July 23, 2020, Nevis is alleged to have submitted at least 12 loan applications using the identities of eight people without their knowledge.
More than $1.5 million was given to Nevis because of fraudulent applications, the Justice Department said. He also allegedly laundered at least $160,000 of the money he received from the loans.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Jolie A. Russo oversaw Nevins’ initial appearance in federal court in Portland, Oregon, according to the release. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan W. Bounds is prosecuting the case.
Nevis is charged with wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and money laundering, all felony crimes. If convicted on all charges, he faces a maximum sentence of 32 years in prison, fines up to $500,000 and three years of supervised release.
Nevis was released from custody pending a three-day jury trial scheduled to begin Aug. 2.
The case was investigated by the FBI, the U.S. Treasury inspector general for tax administration and the Small Business Administration Office of the Inspector General.
The Department of Justice encourages anyone with information about allegations of fraud involving COVID-19 to call its hotline at 866-720-5721 or visit justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.
This story was originally published May 26, 2022 at 5:14 PM.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of the headline for this story mischaracterized the charges against Arroyo Grande real estate developer Alfred E. Nevis. The error has been corrected.
