A South Florida woman is reportedly evading the FBI after allegedly orchestrating a $34 million COVID-19 relief fraud scheme.
Elaine Angene Escoe, 40, was last seen in Palm Beach County on June 3, just two days before a scheduled court hearing for her alleged fraud, NBC Miami reports.
Escoe, a native of Jamaica who has aliases “Annie” and “Annie Palmer,” is accused of conspiring with a group to submit over 90 allegedly fraudulent applications
for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL), the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF), and Shuttered Venue Operators Grants (SVOG) between May 2020 and November 2021.The applications reportedly included false information about the number of employees, payroll expenses, and business revenues, resulting in the improper disbursement of approximately $29.1 million in PPP funds, $1.2 million in RRF funds, and $3.8 million in SVOG funds.
Once the funds were disbursed, Escoe and
her associates allegedly funneled money to each other through businesses they controlled, withdrew large amounts in cash, and used blank, signed checks to hide the source and purpose of the funds. A federal arrest warrant was issued for Escoe on May 22 after she was charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, wire fraud, and both concealment and transactional money laundering.Just days before her scheduled court hearing on June
5, Escoe went missing and has not been seen since. If convicted, she would join nearly 800 others indicted for alleged COVID-19-related crimes, including Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) fraud. As of early 2024, 373 individuals had been sentenced.In May 2025, 14 people were arrested
for allegedly defrauding COVID-19 relief programs, obtaining more than $25 million.“These programs were established to assist individuals and businesses in need of financial assistance and instead were pilfered by the named defendants,” said IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge Tyler Hatcher. “IRS-CI is dedicated to identifying and dismantling criminal organizations that prey on assistance programs set up for the benefit of our law-abiding citizens.”
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