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Posted on 07/30/2026 7:08:39 AM PDT by NorthMountain
A fugitive on the FBI’s Most Wanted Fraudsters List was returned to Florida to face federal charges for her alleged role in a $32 million federal COVID-19 relief fund fraud.
Elaine Escoe, 41, was charged by indictment in 2025 with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering, as well as multiple substantive counts of wire fraud and money laundering.
Escoe had been on the run since May 2025 and was captured in Jamaica while living under the fake identity of “Harley Newman.” After being charged, she failed to appear in court and fled.
On June 4, the FBI announced the creation of the Most Wanted Fraudsters List.
Four days later, Escoe was added to the list, and she was apprehended, with help from Jamaican authorities, less than two months later.
“This Most Wanted Fraudster allegedly obtained tens of millions in COVID-19 relief, stealing critical resources from legitimate businesses during a national crisis,” said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche in a July 25 statement.
“She fled the country believing she could escape justice but ultimately could not. Those who exploit taxpayer-funded programs will be held accountable by this Department of Justice, no matter how long it takes or where they attempt to hide,” he added.
The operation involved the FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service, the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service Regional Security Office at the U.S. Embassy in Kingston, and Jamaica’s Constabulary Force and Fugitive Apprehension Team.
“This most-wanted fraudster faces charges stemming from a multimillion-dollar scheme to defraud taxpayer-funded COVID-19 relief programs,” said Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the National Fraud Enforcement Division.
“The Fraud Division will continue to vigorously prosecute those who steal from the American people,” he added.
Escoe and her co-conspirators are accused of submitting or causing the submission of fraudulent applications seeking more than $32 million from Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), Restaurant Revitalization Fund, Shuttered Venue Operators Grant, and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) funds.
These applications were then used to falsely represent the existence of payroll, earnings, and operations to qualify and get the largest amount of federal relief funding.
This included fake tax documents, fabricated bank records, and other false financial records that lenders and program administrators relied upon in approving loans and grants.
Authorities said that applications were submitted on behalf of businesses controlled by the conspirators, while others were submitted for third parties in exchange “for substantial kickbacks,” sometimes as much as 50 percent of the loan proceeds.
The fraud proceeds were subsequently laundered among the conspirators.
Escoe is the last remaining defendant charged in the scheme.
After a trial in December, Alfred Davis, Cher Davis, and Latoya Clark were convicted by a federal jury. James McGhow and Gino Jourdan previously pleaded guilty.
Alfred Davis was sentenced to 235 months’ imprisonment, Cher Davis to 87 months, Clark to 70 months, Jourdan to 46 months, and McGhow to 42 months.
Under both Presidents Donald Trump and his successor Joe Biden, Congress authorized about $4.6 trillion in emergency COVID-19 relief between 2020 and 2021 to help families and businesses “respond to and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Hundreds of billions of dollars were likely lost to fraud during the lockdowns, according to an April 2025 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report.
GAO said fraudsters defrauded at least 19 different pandemic-relief programs. It said that three of the more commonly defrauded pandemic-relief programs included the Department of Labor’s Unemployment Insurance programs, the Small Business Administration’s PPP, and the COVID-19 EIDL program.
According to a 2023 report by Open the Books, a conservative nonprofit government-spending watchdog, COVID-aid programs involved the “largest public fraud in history.”
According to their calculations, there was an estimated $400 billion in fraud in COVID-aid programs due to “rushed rollout and lax oversight.”
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String her Caribbeaner azz up!
Out of $4.6 trillion authorized, how much was stolen? Trickier question, how much was unnecessary and a complete waste of taxpayer indebtedness?
Half of it.
Good question ... this article is about fraud. Waste and abuse are additional problems ... IMO, everything about “covid” was a rotten cesspool of waste, fraud, and abuse.
Steal all your money and they break your heart.
Escoe and her co-conspirators are accused of gross collusion, submitting or
causing the submission of fraudulent applications seeking more than $32M from
<>the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP),
<>the Restaurant Revitalization Fund,
<>Shuttered Venue Operators Grant,
<>and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) funds.
The faked applications were then used to falsely represent the existence of payroll, earnings,
and operations to qualify and get the largest amount of federal relief funding. This included
<>fake tax documents,
<>fabricated bank records,
<>and other falsified financial records
<>records lenders and program officials used to approve loans and grants.
Authorities said fraudulent apps were used thusly:
<>submitted on behalf of businesses controlled by the conspirators,
<>others were submitted for third parties in exchange “for substantial kickbacks,”
<>kickbacks totaled as much as 50 percent of loan proceeds.
Kids lost a couple years of their lives....because that camaraderie between the students is just as important as the 3Rs.
Seniors is homes were denied the companionship of their loved ones.
She was a real pineapple princess. Not anymore. Her azz is going to jail.
She fought the law and the law won.
Jamaica as the getaway hideout ?
Never been there .
If anyone has been there , would Jamaica be on a short list of countries to flee to with millions of stolen money ?
I think she'd have an easier time hiding in Jamaica than I would ...
Answer to your question: no.
Of possible interest:
The fraud never stops. Ever hear of this one?
The billion-dollar urinary catheter fraud (known as Operation Gold Rush) was a transnational organized crime operation. The U.S. Department of Justice charged 11 individuals—primarily citizens of Russia, Estonia, and the Czech Republic—with laundering over $10 billion in fraudulent Medicare claims.
Key foreign nationals and syndicate members involved in the scheme include:
Imam Nakhmatullaev: A Russian national who operated as the primary organizer and directed the other members while based overseas.
Svjatoslav Jakovlev: Charged alongside Nakhmatullaev with conspiracy to commit health care fraud and money laundering.
Kakha Bendeliani and Goga Danelia: Two Georgian nationals involved in a separate but highly related multi-billion-dollar catheter scam.
Bendeliani acted as a “nominee owner” of a front company, while Danelia assisted with translation and navigating U.S. banks to launder over $12 million in fraudulent funds overseas.
Nika Machutadze (also spelled Machudisy): A Russian citizen living in Texas who managed multiple DME (Durable Medical Equipment) providers. He was arrested for billing Medicare for over $134 million in unauthorized catheters in just a few weeks and funneling the proceeds to Hong Kong.
Foreign “Straw” Owners: The transnational ring hired and sent numerous individuals from abroad into the United States to act as nominee owners. These individuals bought legitimate U.S. medical supply companies and executed rapid fraudulent billings while acting on encrypted messaging directions from overseas.
Twelve people were arrested to disrupt the ring, including arrests made at U.S. airports and the Mexican border as individuals attempted to flee the country, as well as several arrests coordinated with law enforcement in Estonia.
Rastaman vibration .
I was curious if she was living the lifestyle of the rich and famous in Jamaica, she’d probably stand out .
Knock Knock
Who’s There?
Jamaica
Jamaica Who?
Jamaica call to your lawyer?
Medicare Operational Changes (The Anti-Fraud Crackdown)
While fraud did not cause the legislative rewrites, massive fraud has triggered sweeping operational, enrollment, and auditing changes to protect taxpayer dollars:
Enrollment Freezes: Driven by widespread billing scams, CMS implemented a strict six-month moratorium on new enrollments for hospice care, home health agencies, and durable medical equipment (DME) suppliers to block “bad actors”.
Tougher Rules for Providers: In mid-2026, CMS proposed regulations expanding its power to deny or revoke Medicare billing privileges. This is a direct response to massive scams, such as a multi-billion dollar fraudulent urinary catheter billing scheme.
Prior Authorization Expansion: To combat nearly $60 billion lost annually to waste, fraud, and abuse, original Medicare has piloted the WISeR model in six states. This requires pre-approval for 17 high-risk medical procedures specifically identified as prone to fraud.
New Beneficiary Cards: A wave of roughly 1.3 million new Medicare cards and numbers sent to beneficiaries is directly tied to preventing ongoing identity-theft fraud and data breaches.
Down in Jamaica
They got lots of pretty women
Steal your money
Then they break your heart
The billion-dollar urinary catheter fraud was a massive, coordinated Medicare scheme where transnational criminal organizations used stolen identities and foreign straw owners to take over established medical supply companies.
The scammers rapidly billed Medicare for over $10.6 billion for millions of catheters that patients never ordered, received, or needed.
Key details of the scheme include:
The Surge in Claims: Medicare claims for intermittent urinary catheters spiked dramatically from about 50,000 beneficiaries annually to over 450,000, causing billing amounts to skyrocket to over $10.6 billion.
Exploitation of Identities: Scammers used stolen medical information to exploit over one million Americans across all 50 states.
Federal Crackdown: Federal authorities, including the DOJ and CMS, cracked down on the scheme as part of the largest coordinated healthcare fraud takedown in U.S. history.
By using advanced data analytics, CMS blocked over $4.2 billion in fraudulent payouts, revoked billing privileges for bad actors, and helped arrest hundreds of individuals.
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