Former Florida mayor's daughter sentenced for COVID fraud | Entertainment – Devdiscourse

PTI | Fortlauderdale | Updated: 01-02-2022 21:30 IST | Created: 01-02-2022 21:30 IST The daughter of a former South Florida mayor who recently ran for Congress has been sentenced to prison for lying to obtain $300,000 in COVID-19 relief funds.Damara Holness on Monday was ordered to report to federal prison by noon on April 25 to serve a 20-month sentence for the Paycheck Protection Programme fraud. The programme was designed to keep businesses afloat during the pandemic. The judge on Monday also sentenced Holness, daughter of former Broward County Mayor Dale Holness, to five years of supervised release.She pleaded guilty in November, a day after a Democratic primary for a US House seat that her father ended up losing by five votes.“The defendant saw this as an opportunity to unjustly enrich herself by defrauding the programme designed to help those struggling businesses,” Assistant US Attorney Jeffrey Kaplan wrote in court records.Damara Holness’ lawyer, Sue-Ann Robinson, said it “was more an act of desperation than greed”. She said some of the money went toward “housing arrangements” and taxes.Holness apologised to the community, the government and to her family, the South Florida SunSentinel reported. She noted that she’s affected her father’s career.Dale…
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