Sussex County man sentenced to 6½ years in prison for $2.1 million COVID-19 relief fraud scheme
SPARTA TOWNSHIP, N.J. (Sussex County) — A Sussex County man has been sentenced to 78 months in federal prison for fraudulently obtaining more than $2.1 million in COVID-19 relief funds through a scheme involving false business loan applications, U.S. Attorney Robert Frazer announced.
Nikenson Jean Mathurin, 46, of Sparta Township, also known as “Nik Mathurin” and “Jean Mathurin,” was sentenced Oct. 28 by U.S. District Judge Michael A. Shipp. In addition to the prison term, Mathurin was sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $2,131,747 in restitution.
Mathurin was convicted in May 2026 following a four-day jury trial in Trenton federal court on three counts of wire fraud and one count of money laundering.
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Mathurin began participating in the fraud scheme in April 2020, shortly after Congress authorized emergency financial assistance to help businesses remain operational and keep employees on payroll during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Federal prosecutors said Mathurin submitted 15 fraudulent applications for loans through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program on behalf of businesses he claimed to own.
The applications contained false information about the businesses’ average monthly payroll, gross revenue and number of employees. Mathurin also submitted fabricated tax documents and payroll records to support the applications, according to prosecutors.
As a result, Mathurin fraudulently obtained more than $2.1 million in federal pandemic relief funds intended to assist struggling businesses.
The prosecution was part of the District of New Jersey COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Strike Force, one of five strike forces established nationwide by the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate and prosecute large-scale pandemic relief fraud.
The strike forces bring together federal prosecutors, law enforcement agencies and data analysts to identify fraudulent applications, investigate suspected criminal activity and recover taxpayer funds.
Anyone with information about suspected COVID-19 relief fraud can contact the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud at 866-720-5721 or submit a complaint online at justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.
