Eldon Man Named In Federal Indictment For Covid Fraud Scheme

An Eldon man is among two others indicted by a federal grand jury in connection to using the identities of dead people to try bilking almost half-a-million dollars in covid relief funding. The U.S. Attorney General’s Office identifies 40-year-old Lamar Johnson along with a 39-year-old Warren Watkins and 25-year-old Marissia Jackson, both from Kansas City, as being involved in the scheme which included the filing of 238 false claims under the CARES Act. The federal indictment also charges that the trio was involved in filing other false claims, wire fraud and aggravated identity death. The attempted conspiracy covered a time period from March 2020 to April 2021. The case was investigated by the IRS Criminal Investigation Unit.