ST. LOUIS – A St. Louis County employee who previously served as the administrative assistant to a former St. Louis County Council member hatched a scheme to fraudulently obtain COVID-19 relief funds for a local businessman in exchange for a share of the proceeds, an indictment unsealed Tuesday alleges.
Anthony “Tony” Weaver Sr., who is currently employed as the “change management coordinator” at the St. Louis County jail, was indicted May 25 on four felony counts of wire fraud. Weaver has turned himself in and is scheduled to make his first appearance in court Tuesday at 1 p.m.
The indictment alleges that on May 6, 2020, Weaver approached a man who owned several small businesses located in St. Louis County with a scheme to fraudulently apply for grants from the county’s Small Business Relief (SBR) Program. The program used federal CARES Act money to help small businesses located in the county that were closed during the stay-at-home orders by paying some of the costs incurred by the closing.
According to the indictment, Weaver told the businessman, identified in the indictment as “John Smith,” that his former boss on the council, identified as “Jane Doe,” needed to know the names of Smith’s businesses as she made the final decision. Weaver also told Smith that Doe’s office is “going to do what I tell them to do.”
Over the next few weeks, Weaver filled out applications for four SBR loans on behalf of Smith’s businesses, falsely claiming that the businesses were closed...
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