U.S. authorities are searching for a couple accused of participating in a million-dollar scheme involving fraud with loans from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which included fraudulent applications linked to more than 100 Cuban immigrants.
The case was highlighted this Monday by the Attorney General of the United States, Todd Blanche, during an event in Kansas City led by Vice President J.D. Vance, in which the administration of Donald Trump announced a new offensive against fraud committed with federal funds during the pandemic.
According to CBS News, a federal grand jury in the Northern District of Iowa indicted Adrián Rafael Pupo Pérez and Helen Yaima Leyva Santiesteban on 47 charges of wire fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy.
Both remain fugitives, according to the Department of Justice.
"This couple has fled the country [...] and remains at large, but we are working diligently to bring them back," Blanche stated while presenting the case as one of the examples of fraud pursued by federal authorities.
The prosecutors argue that Pupo Pérez, Leyva Santiesteban, and over 100 other individuals participated in a scheme that involved approximately 470 fraudulent PPP applications filed on behalf of individuals located in various places across the United States, reported CBS News.
The scheme aimed to obtain over 4.5 million dollars in public funds, and approximately 2.4 million were actually disbursed, according to the same source.
During her speech, Blanche specifically focused on the Cuban immigrants connected to the scheme.
The Attorney General explained that fraudulent loans were presented or attempted to be obtained "in the name of more than a hundred immigrants from Cuba." He detailed that the applications falsely claimed that these individuals were self-employed and that each had earned approximately $100,000 in gross income during 2019, before the pandemic.
In reality, Blanche indicated, they were not self-employed workers, but rather worked in a meat processing plant in northern Iowa or held other jobs in that region.
The case has prior reports. One of the defendants in the same federal case was the Cuban Yovany Ciero, a former sergeant of the Cuban Armed Forces and an employee at a meat processing plant in Algona, Iowa.
Ciero was found guilty in May 2025 of three counts of electronic fraud, 23 counts of money laundering, one count of engaging in a monetary transaction with property derived from illegal activity, and one count of conspiracy to launder money.
The Department of Justice explained then that Ciero was one of six intermediaries or "bundlers" in the scheme. His role was to recruit individuals, obtain their personal information for fraudulent applications, and deliver that information to those who submitted the requests to the financial entities participating in the PPP.
Authorities indicated that Ciero and more than a hundred Cuban immigrants obtained fraudulent loans claiming they were self-employed and earning around $100,000 a year, when in fact they were working at the meat processing plant or in other jobs.
Ciero was sentenced in December 2025 to four years in federal prison and ordered to pay $212,293 in restitution. The Department of Justice indicated at the time that he was the fifth former employee of meat processing plants in Iowa to be sentenced for his involvement in the scheme.
The investigation came back to the forefront this Monday as part of a broader offensive by the federal government against fraud related to the aid programs established during the pandemic.
According to CBS News, the operation announced by the authorities involves cases against more than 160 defendants related to approximately 245 million dollars in projected losses for taxpayers.
Vance also announced the suspension of approximately 870,000 borrowers from the Small Business Administration (SBA), who will be barred from accessing certain loans and federal programs due to suspicions related to fraud.
Blanche used the Iowa case to illustrate the extent of the investigations and warned that the Department of Justice will continue to pursue those who have defrauded federal programs, including those who left the United States to evade authorities.
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