Businessman Sentenced to 7 Years for Defrauding Covid Relief Programs of More Than $3.5 Million
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia announced that Jose “Joe” Biaou, 42, a citizen of Benin and a resident of the District, was sentenced on November 10, 2026, by U.S. District Judge Christopher R. Cooper to 84 months in federal prison for defrauding Covid-era economic relief programs. He was also ordered to serve 24 months of supervised release and to pay $3,417,542.77 in restitution. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro announced the sentence.
Biaou founded FRB Capital Group LLC, a brokerage firm for the commercial real estate industry. On February 17, 2026, a federal jury found him guilty of six counts of wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft. According to the government's evidence at trial, Biaou applied for more than $5 million in loans and received more than $3.5 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) proceeds on behalf of FRB and Millenium Global Finance, an entity with no employees or operations that nonetheless received $1.25 million in PPP funds.
In support of his EIDL applications, Biaou falsely claimed that he was a U.S. citizen and provided a counterfeit birth certificate, which he forged using a copy of his minor daughter's birth certificate. He also consistently inflated the number of FRB employees, their average monthly salaries, office rents and other financial information, and submitted false information when applying for forgiveness of one of the PPP loans. “Mr. Biaou built his scheme on lies,” Pirro said. “Stealing emergency relief funds is stealing from the American people.”
The case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service's Washington Division and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sungtae Kang, under case number 24cr323.
(Source: U.S. Department of Justice)
Source: U.S. Department of Justice
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：美国司法部总部大楼（四级图库联邦核心包固定图）。 / Image: U.S. Department of Justice headquarters (fixed image from the federal core asset pack).
