Date: June 24, 2025
Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov
NEW ORLEANS – Acting U.S. Attorney Michael M. Simpson announced that Irvin C. Francois III (“Francois”), of New Orleans, was indicted on June 20, 2025, for making false statements, and money laundering, related to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act).
On March 27, 2020, the President of the United States signed into law the CARES Act, which provided emergency assistance, administered by the United States Small Business Administration (SBA), to small business owners affected by the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. One of the primary sources of funding for small businesses was the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).
According to the charging documents, or about March 24, 2021, Francois, on behalf of a business that he owned, made false statements to an approved lender to obtain approximately $144,790 for a PPP loan. Francois then committed money laundering by using these ill-gotten funds to buy an automobile from a dealership in Kenner, Louisiana.
Acting U.S. Attorney Simpson reiterated that an indictment is merely a charge and that the guilt of the defendant must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. If found guilty, Francois faces up to five years in prison for the false statement count and up to ten years in prison for the money laundering count. All of the counts include up to $250,000 in fines, up to three years of supervised release and a $100 mandatory special assessment fee.
This case was investigated by an agent assigned to the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC) Fraud Task Force. The PRAC was established to serve the American public by promoting transparency and facilitating coordinated oversight of the federal government’s COVID-19 pandemic response. The PRAC’s 21 member Inspectors General identify major risks that cross program and agency boundaries to detect fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement in the more than $5 trillion in COVID-19 spending. The PRAC Fraud Task Force brings together agents from 15 Inspectors General to investigate fraud involving a variety of programs, including the Paycheck Protection Program. Task force agents who are detailed to the PRAC receive expanded authority to investigate pandemic fraud as well as tools and training to support their investigations.
Acting U.S. Attorney Simpson praised the work of the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs - Office of Inspector General (a member of the PRAC) in investigating this matter. Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward J. Rivera of the Financial Crimes Unit is in charge of the prosecution.
IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) is the law enforcement arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. IRS-CI special agents are the only federal law enforcement agents with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code, obtaining a 90% federal conviction rate. The agency has 19 field offices located across the U.S. and 14 attaché posts abroad.