Florida Man Charged with Theft in COVID 19 Program Pled Guilty Now US Opposes Delay

Florida Man Charged with Theft in COVID 19 Program Pled Guilty Now US Opposes Delay by Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book Substack SDNY COURTHOUSE, Sept 1 – One of six defendants charged with stealing from government COVID-19 programs was presented and freed on bail on April 10 by U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Magistrate Judge Gary Stein. Inner City Press was there, the only media in the SDNY Mag court.    The prosecutors cite "a scheme to fraudulently obtain checks and launder the proceeds. Many of the checks were funds provided by the government for COVID-19 relief that the defendants stole before depositing into bank accounts opened using sham businesses or stolen or fake identities. In total, the defendants attempted to steal approximately $80 million and succeeded in depositing approximately $50 million."     This defendant Ujkic was represented by a lawyer from Fort Lauderdale, admitted pro hac vice. He was freed on $100,000 bond with travel including a district in Florida and another in Georgia. Jump cut to February 4, 2026 when Ujkic pleaded guilty before Judge Castel, wtih sentencing set for May 21. On February 11 Shan Anand pled guilty, with his sentencing also set for May 21. On June 29, co-defendant Aluko asked for less then the 97 month guideline when he is sentenced on July 14. On July 7 the US Attorney's Office wrote in asking for at least 97 months. On July 16 counsel to co-defendant Nobore wrote in asking for 48 month, not the 120 months recommended by Probation. On July 23 co-defendant Gonzalez was sentenced to 58 months in prison, and forfeiture of $2,713,236.06. On July 24 on co-defendant Nobore, the US Attorney's Office wrote in asking for 151 months. On July 30 Nobore got 96 months. On September 1 counsel for co-defendant Gonzalez asked for a 90 day stay of the September 29 surrender date, noting another CJA counsel trying to litigate the validity of a prior conviction and that "the Government opposes Mr. Gonzalez' application to stay his surrender."   The overall case is USA v. Anand, et al., 1:25-cr-110 (Castel) *** Your support means a lot. As little as $5 a month helps keep us going and grants you access to exclusive bonus material on our Patreon page. Click here to become a patron. Feedback: Editorial [at] innercitypress.com Mail: Box 130222, Chinatown Station, NY NY 10013 Reporter's mobile (and weekends): 718-716-3540 Other, earlier Inner City Press are listed here, and some are available in the ProQuest service, and now on Lexis-Nexis.  Copyright 2006-2026 Inner City Press, Inc. To request reprint or other permission, e-contact Editorial [at] innercitypress.com