Thread by @jeremyjojola

Finally! I can talk about this. Some of you remember this tweet. I found something that made my heart race when I was going through government databases. A case of fraud involving $2.3 million in COVID funds. Follow this thread... #9NEWS @9WantsToKnow

Weeks ago I was scrolling through government databases that show all the Colorado businesses that received COVID dollars. Money that was supposed to help small businesses pay employees during the pandemic. I found a strange pattern. 2/

I found 33 businesses that trace to ONE Denver address. They were all approved for COVID monies. When I looked closer at the business licenses...BOOM! Fraud. Someone took expired businesses and revived them on paper. Days later, the entities were approved for loads of money. 3/

These businesses were defunct and closed years ago. Businesses like a dog training company and a VHS video rental store. Someone revived their licenses on paper, changed the names, and then used the entities to get loans for each one. Up to $74k per business. 4/

These 33 businesses all supposedly had 3 employees and should be found in operation behind this one Denver office suite door. Nope. They don't exist. They're bogus. So who's behind this scheme? Hmmm.... 5/

It turns out a guy named Greg Folk is the registered agent on these entities. His name was added when these entities were revived on paper. Who and where is Greg Folk? Turns out Greg Folk was a licensed CPA in Colorado several years ago. But it gets strange.... 6/

It took me a while, but I found Greg Folk's wife. She told us Greg died of COVID complications in November of 2020, months after the loans were approved. She said her husband was too sick to do this scheme. She believes one of his "enemies" did this. 7/

I confirmed Folk did die in November. So was he behind this scheme or did someone steal his identity to revive these businesses and get $2.3 million? I can't say. I have spoken to federal investigators about our findings and they are intrigued. 8/

This is $2.3 million that should have gone to 99 people. And where is the money? There are a lot of questions that only criminal investigators with subpoena power can find answers to. We'll be broadcasting our journey into this investigation tonight on 9NEWS. 9/

And here’s our article that gives more detail about this scheme. Thanks for following along. #9NEWS
9news.com/mobile/article…

I should have remembered. Our Data Wizard 🧙‍♂️ @ZackNewsMan did a lot of work organizing and extrapolating the data for this investigation. He worked with millions of lines of data so we could zero in on this scheme.