A 49-year-old man in the United States has been sentenced to 27 months in federal prison for operating online platforms that supplied forged documents used to defraud banks and government agencies of COVID-19 relief funds.
Kimani Bracey, a resident of Simpsonville, South Carolina, was sentenced by US District Judge Thomas W. Thrash Jr. He will also serve three years under supervised release after completing his prison term.
The court further ordered him to pay restitution of US$386,960.50, equivalent to approximately KSh50 million.
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According to the US Attorney’s Office, Bracey operated two websites through which he sold fabricated financial and employment records, including tax returns, bank statements and employment verification documents.
Customers allegedly used the materials to submit fraudulent loan applications and facilitate other financial crimes.
Investigators from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) linked several documents produced by Bracey to applications for loans under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).
The PPP was a federal initiative introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic to provide financial assistance to businesses affected by the crisis.
The investigation established that fraudulent applications facilitated the acquisition of more than US$386,000, approximately KSh50 million, in loans from financial institutions.
Apart from fake financial records, Bracey also supplied counterfeit payslips, falsified employer verification documents and fabricated COVID-19 test results, which customers allegedly used in various fraudulent schemes.
US Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg said Bracey took advantage of the uncertainty and financial difficulties experienced during the pandemic by providing forged documents that enabled others to steal public funds and defraud financial institutions.
FBI Atlanta Special Agent in Charge Marlo Graham also condemned the actions, saying Bracey exploited a national health emergency to profit from schemes that enabled others to unlawfully obtain federal funds.
Bracey pleaded guilty to wire fraud on June 26, 2026. The investigation was conducted by the FBI, while Assistant US Attorneys Calvin A. Leipold III and Angela Adams handled the prosecution.
His sentencing comes as the US government intensifies efforts to combat fraud involving public funds and federal assistance programmes.
On April 7, 2026, the US Department of Justice announced the creation of a National Fraud Enforcement Division to investigate and prosecute offences involving fraud against the American public.
The division forms part of President Donald Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a government-wide initiative chaired by Vice President JD Vance and aimed at addressing fraud, waste and abuse in federal benefit programmes.