St. Louis Man Gets Two Years for Two COVID Scams

Today, a judge in federal court handed down a two-year prison sentence to a 40-year-old St. Louis man who, in February, pleaded guilty to selling a company in Madison, Wisconsin, $169,000 worth of N-95 masks that didn't exist.

In addition to the mask scheme, Prince Vamboi also admitted to applying for and receiving more than $18,000 in fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program loans, which were intended to keep struggling businesses afloat during the pandemic.

According to the original indictment, Vamboi was one of multiple co-conspirators who, in April 2020, duped Verona Safety Supply into transferring money to a bank account in St. Louis in what they thought was a payment to secure shipments of N-95 masks.
Vamboi also obtained unemployment benefits from the state of Washington under fraudulent circumstances and altered a check made out to a company in Texas so that it looked like it was made out to a company he owned.

In total, Vamboi admitted to $212,848 in total fraud.

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