NEWARK, N.J. — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (USAO - New Jersey), published as received.

NEWARK, N.J. – A New Jersey man who obtained more than $2.1 million in fraudulent COVID-19 relief funds was sentenced on October 28, 2026 to 78 months in prison, three years’ supervised release, and ordered to pay $2,131,747 in restitution, U.S. Attorney Robert Frazer announced. 

Following a four-day jury trial in May 2026 before U.S. District Judge Michael A. Shipp in Trenton federal court, Nikenson Jean Mathurin, aka “Nik Mathurin,” aka “Jean Mathurin,” 46, of Sparta, New Jersey, was convicted of three counts of wire fraud and one count of money laundering.  

According to documents in this case and evidence at trial:

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic impact, Congress authorized emergency funding that small businesses could use to help keep their businesses afloat and employees on payroll. 

Beginning in April 2020, Mathurin participated in a scheme to defraud lenders and the Small Business Administration to obtain federal COVID-19 emergency relief money by submitting fifteen fraudulent PPP and EIDL applications on behalf of businesses he claimed to own.  Mathurin’s fraudulent applications included false information concerning, among other things, the applicant entities’ average monthly payroll, gross revenue, and number of employees, and fake supporting tax documents and payroll records.  As a result of his fraudulent applications, Mathurin unlawfully obtained more than $2.1 million in federal COVID-19 emergency relief money.

U.S. Attorney Robert Frazer credited special agents the IRS – Criminal Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jenifer L. Piovesan, with the investigation.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew Stark and Fatime Meka Cano of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Newark.   

The District of New Jersey COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Strike Force is one of five strike forces established throughout the United States by the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate and prosecute COVID-19 fraud. The strike forces focus on large-scale, multi-state pandemic relief fraud perpetrated by criminal organizations and transnational actors. The strike forces are interagency law enforcement efforts, using prosecutor-led and data analyst-driven teams designed to identify and bring to justice those who stole pandemic relief funds. 

The Department of Justice has established the National Fraud Enforcement Division. The core mission of the National Fraud Enforcement Division is to zealously investigate and prosecute those who steal or fraudulently misuse taxpayer dollars.  The National Fraud Enforcement Division will fulfill that mission by coordinating with agencies responsible for administering benefit programs; partnering with federal, tribal, state, territorial, and local law enforcement on fraud-fighting efforts; developing systems and processes that ensure efficient identification of fraud against taxpayer dollars; and equipping prosecutors and law enforcement with state-of-the-art tools and resources needed to bring criminal actors to justice.  The attorneys in the National Fraud Enforcement Division will work every day to protect the financial integrity of our government and the tax system that supports it. 

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

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Defense Counsel for Mathurin: Serguel Akiti, Esq.