BOSTON – A Wenham man was arrested today in connection with a scheme to obtain fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program funds made available under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act by submitting false applications.

James Joseph Cohen, 58, was charged with one count of bank fraud. Cohen was released on conditions following an initial appearance in federal court in Boston.

According to the charging documents, between April 2020 and September 2021, Cohen submitted six false applications to financial institutions and to the Small Business Administration to obtain pandemic-related relief funds on behalf of companies that he controlled. It is alleged that in the applications, Cohen falsely misstated the revenues of the companies, the persons employed, or amounts paid to those employees in the 12-month period preceding the application. In total, Cohen is alleged to have fraudulently obtained more than $1.2 million in pandemic relief funds based upon these false submissions.

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