ST. LOUIS – A former St. Louis County, Missouri employee on Friday admitted hatching a scheme to fraudulently obtain COVID-19 relief funds in exchange for kickbacks.
Anthony “Tony” Weaver Sr. pleaded guilty in front of U.S. District Court Judge Stephen R. Clark to four felony counts of wire fraud. Weaver was the “change management coordinator” at the St. Louis County jail at the time of his indictment in May and previously served as the administrative assistant to a former St. Louis County Council member.
Weaver admitted approaching a man who owned several small businesses in St. Louis County
with a scheme to fraudulently apply for grants from the county’s Small Business Relief (SBR) Program, shortly after that program began in May of 2020. The program used federal CARES Act money to help small businesses deal with the cost of closures due to pandemic-related stay-at-home orders.
Weaver approached the businessman, identified in court as “John Smith,” on May 6, 2020 and said his former boss on the council, identified as “Jane Doe,” needed to know the names of Smith’s businesses so she could approve them for a grant. Weaver said he would fill out applications for the maximum grant of $15,000 for each of Smith’s six businesses, adding that Doe’s office is “going to do what I tell them to do.”
Weaver then filled out the applications, falsely claiming that the businesses were closed and had to lay off employees during the pandemic. Weaver concealed the fact that Smith had at...
The Akwa Ibom State Government has disputed PREMIUM TIMES’ report placing the state 36th among the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory in the 2026 National Examinations Council (NECO) Seni...