Bloomington woman sentenced to 7.5 years for stealing millions in COVID relief funds
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- A Bloomington woman was sentenced to 7.5 years in prison for stealing millions of dollars in COVID-19 relief funds.
Tequisha Solomon, 40, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud in December.
Court documents say she applied for over $7.1 million in pandemic-related funds; between June 2020 and January 2022 she caused the U.S. and state agencies to pay out at least $4.7 million in the form of fraudulent unemployment benefits and small business loans.
Solomon sought benefits from multiple states, including California, Illinois, and Minnesota, all while she was living in either Minnesota or Nevada, documents say.
She also charged people upwards of $2,000 to help them obtain pandemic-related funds, and submitted 200 false applications.
In addition to the 90-month prison sentence, she will be on three years of supervised release, and is ordered to pay $4.7 million in restitution.
