A federal judge has ordered a Connecticut man to 21 months in prison and three years of supervised release for fraudulently obtaining COVID-19 relief funds.
David X. Sullivan, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that Vincenenzo Minutolo, 39, of Shelton, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Kari A. Dooley in Bridgeport to 21 months of imprisonment and three years of supervised release for fraudulently obtaining COVID-19 relief funds.
According to court documents and court statements, in March 2020 Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which provided emergency financial assistance to Americans suffering the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
One source of relief provided by the CARES Act was the authorization of forgivable loans to small businesses for job retention and certain other expenses through the Paycheck Protection Program. In April 2020, Congress approved more than $300 billion in additional PPP funding. The PPP allowed qualifying small businesses and other organizations to receive unsecured loans at an interest rate of one percent. PPP loan proceeds were to be used by companies on payroll costs, interest on mortgages, rent, and utilities. The PPP allowed the interest and principal to be forgiven if businesses spent the proceeds on eligible expenses within a specific period after receipt and used at least a certain percentage of the amount to be forgiven for payroll.
The PPP was overseen by the Small Business Administration, which has authority over all PPP loans. Individual PPP loans, however, were issued by private, SBA-approved lenders that received and processed PPP applications and supporting documentation, then made loans using their own funds, which the SBA guaranteed.
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Minutolo claimed an ownership interest or representative relationship with City Sounds Productions LLC. Between March and September 2021, Minutolo defrauded the PPP loan program of more than $145,000 by providing false information on loan applications for City Sounds, including overstating the yearly gross income for City Sounds; misrepresenting that similar PPP loans had not been or would not be sought when he had, in fact, sought and obtained, and intended to seek and obtain, such loans; and providing fraudulent IRS tax filings and tax payment vouchers for City Sounds that had, in fact, never been filed with the IRS. Similarly, in the forgiveness applications he submitted, Minutolo materially misrepresented that he had complied with all requirements of the PPP rules.
In addition, the CARES Act created a new temporary federal unemployment insurance program for pandemic unemployment assistance. Pandemic Unemployment Assistance provided unemployment insurance benefits to employed individuals who are not eligible for other types of UI because of their employment status. The CARES Act also created a new temporary federal program, Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation, which provided additional weekly benefits to those eligible for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance or regular UI. The Connecticut Department of Labor administers UI benefits for Connecticut residents.
Between March 2020 and April 2021, Minutolo defrauded the CT-DOL of more than $140,000 by providing the CT-DOL with fraudulent Pandemic Unemployment Assistance applications seeking unemployment insurance payments in others’ names, including individuals who had died, and individuals who did not know that their name and sometimes other personal information were being used.
One fraudulent application was for Minutolo’s grandfather, who died in 2014, and included a telephone number associated with Minutolo. Minutolo continued to submit weekly online certifications to the CT-DOL, attesting that the information in his grandfather’s application and other applications was true, to receive continued unemployment insurance benefits.
Judge Dooley ordered Minutolo to pay $244,612 in restitution.
On February 28, 2025, Minutolo pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud. Released on a $50,000 bond, he is required to report to prison on January 22.
This matter was investigated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security – Office of Inspector General and the U.S. Department of Labor – Office of the Inspector General. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher W. Schmeisser prosecuted the case.
Individuals with information about allegations of fraud involving COVID-19 are encouraged to report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud Hotline at 866-720-5721, or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.
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