Tamara Dadyan, a 43-year-old woman from Encino, California, was recently extradited from Montenegro to the United States after spending a year as a fugitive. Dadyan had been convicted of a fraud ring that engaged in a scheme to fraudulently obtain more than $20 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) COVID-19 relief funds. She and her co-conspirators created dozens of fake, stolen, or synthetic identities in order to submit fraudulent applications for the loans. The fraudulently obtained funds were used to buy luxury items and real estate properties. Dadyan pleaded guilty in June 2021 and was sentenced to 10 years and 10 months in prison.Her extradition was made possible with the assistance of the Government of Montenegro, including the Ministry of Justice. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs, the FBI Los Angeles Field Office, IRS Criminal Investigation, SBA Office of Inspector General, and the Federal Housing Finance Agency Office of Inspector General also played a part in Dadyan’s extradition. The Attorney General also established a COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to investigate and prosecute pandemic-related fraud.
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