FBI nabs alleged COVID fraud fugitive who allegedly stole millions
Fox News correspondent Chanley Painter reports on the arrest in Jamaica of Elaine Angene Escoe, a fugitive accused of orchestrating a major COVID-19 relief fraud scheme. Authorities allege Escoe improperly obtained more than $32 million in taxpayer-backed pandemic aid before fleeing the United States in 2025. FBI Director Kash Patel pointed to the arrest as another result from the agency’s “Most Wanted Fraudster” list.
The Justice Department has brought charges against dozens of people accused of exploiting COVID-19 pandemic relief programs in schemes that allegedly caused hundreds of millions of dollars in losses, U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche said Tuesday.
During remarks to reporters in the White House Rose Garden, Blanche said federal prosecutors nationwide helped arrest 160 defendants between mid-June and September. About 80 of those people were newly charged in connection with suspected COVID-19 fraud cases in Missouri and surrounding states, he said.
The alleged schemes accounted for more than $245 million in losses, according to Blanche.
Attorney General Todd Blanche announced charges against dozens of people allegedly involved in COVID-19 relief fraud cases. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP Photo)
Separately, federal prosecutors in Southern California said Tuesday that 12 defendants who operated in-home childcare facilities were charged with allegedly collecting more than $10 million in government childcare payments through fraud. Investigators said the facilities had few children enrolled, if any at all.
The 12 defendants are naturalized U.S. citizens originally from Syria, Afghanistan, Sudan, Iraq and Somalia.
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“If you knowingly break the law, you will be held accountable,” Blanche said.
Officials said some defendants allegedly submitted claims for childcare payments while they were not even in the United States.
One defendant, Turkiya Alawad, 63, was found to be outside the U.S. between Jan. 1, 2024, and Jan. 30, 2024. However, they submitted and collected childcare payments for the dates she was not away, prosecutors said, according to The Associated Press.
The alleged daycare fraud case in California is larger than the one involving Feeding Our Future, which submitted roughly $4.6 million in claims to the Child Care Assistance Program in Minnesota, according to The AP.
The California case is even larger than the infamous Feeding Our Future case in Minnesota, according to The AP. (Photo by Shari L. Gross/Star Tribune via Getty Images)
The Trump administration has prioritized investigating and prosecuting fraud and abuse of government programs.
Vice President JD Vance chairs the administration’s fraud task force, which has led to dozens of arrests by prosecutors nationwide.