International media have reported that the FBI included a woman residing in Miami on its most wanted list, accused of diverting around US$34 million in federal funds intended to combat covid-19.
According to information from Infobae and media like CBS12 and Miami Heraldthe woman was identified as Elaine Angene Escoe. Additionally, she uses the aliases “Annie” and “Annie Palmer.”
The FBI accuses the woman of crimes such as electronic fraud and money laundering, since she submitted approximately 90 fraudulent applications to various US aid programs. intended to mitigate the effects of covid-19.
Authorities say Escoe is a fugitive from justice after failing to appear in court in the Southern District of Florida in June 2025.
For this reason, the FBI has offered a reward of up to US$150 thousand for information that leads to Escoe’s capture.
According to InfobaeEscoe, along with five others involved, would have developed a criminal scheme through which they would have embezzled large amounts of money from programs such as the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL).
The media claims that the suspects had falsified data such as payrolls, number of employees and income volumes, in addition to using tax and banking documents.
To make it difficult to trace the money, Escoe and the others involved would have transferred the stolen funds to their own companies, in addition to withdrawing cash and using blank checks.
The FBI noted that this case not only represents massive fraud, but could be related to a “complex conspiracy network for money laundering.”