A Florida man who fraudulently obtained COVID-19 relief loans and scammed an undercover federal agent out of $150,000 was sentenced to more than five years in prison.
According to the Department of Justice (DOJ), Thomas Aaron Signorelli, 48, of West Palm Beach, Florida, also deleted evidence during a criminal investigation. Signorelli pleaded guilty to multiple crimes and received a 63-month federal prison sentence from U.S. District Judge James Donato in federal court in San Francisco.
The Florida man was charged by information on Sept. 19, 2024, and pleaded guilty on Nov. 25, 2024. The guilty plea included crimes like conspiracy to commit wire fraud, bank fraud, wire fraud, theft of government property, money laundering conspiracy, and obstruction of justice. Reportedly, Signorelli’s criminal conduct resulted in losses of over $1.9 million.
According to the plea agreement, Signorelli admitted to submitting false information to obtain pandemic-era business loans through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL). The documents contained false statements of annual revenue of the company and incorrect information about the number of employees in the company that he controlled. These loans totalled $61,725 and were never repaid.
Additionally, Signorelli admitted that he carried out two other fraud schemes. Both of these schemes involved making false statements to prospective investors to obtain hundreds of thousands of dollars from them. As the investigation progressed, authorities sought to execute a search warrant that authorized them to search Signorelli’s mobile phone.
This is when more criminal charges were added to this case.
Upon learning that his phone would be searched, Signorelli deleted WhatsApp messages with his co-conspirator, as they would’ve become evidence of his crimes. This became the “obstruction of justice” charge.
“When law enforcement agents sought to execute a search warrant authorizing a search of Signorelli’s mobile phone, Signorelli deleted WhatsApp messages with a co-conspirator that he knew were evidence of a crime.”
— U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of California, Justice
To catch Signorelli red-handed, authorities devised a plan that included an undercover agent, government funds, and an elaborate scheme to arrest.
Reportedly, Signorelli offered to launder money for an individual who was an undercover law enforcement agent. The DEA agent gave Signorelli $150,000 that he believed was linked to drug trafficking. However, instead of laundering the money, he kept it for himself.
This ended up becoming a “theft of government property” as the fund provided by the agent belonged to the government. In addition to over 5 years in federal prison, Judge Donato also ordered 3 years of supervised release after the prison term.
Signorelli is currently in custody and will begin serving his sentence immediately. Future hearings in the matter would look into restitution.
This comes after federal authorities have been working continuously to pursue cases involving pandemic relief fraud and other financial crimes. On April 7, 2026, the DOJ also announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division. The division is formed to investigate and prosecute fraud against Americans. It also supports President Donald Trump‘s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance.
