Feds arrest Atlanta man accused of stealing $1.5M in COVID-19 relief funds

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By Courtney Francisco

ATLANTA — Neighborhood video has uncovered a million-dollar federal fraud investigation.

Neighbors sent Channel 2 Action News video of investigators pulling up to a home in the Hunter Hills neighborhood with blue lights flashing before sunrise Wednesday morning.

Channel 2’s Courtney Francisco reports agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation were there to arrest a man named Clyde Chavo. He is accused of stealing nearly $1.5 million in COVID-19 relief funds set aside to help small businesses survive the pandemic lockdown.

According to court records, Chavo and would set up fake businesses and forge bank statements. Then, investigators claim, he would fill out paycheck protection applications that indicated he could not pay employees.

A grand jury indictment alleges the government wired him more than $400,000 on three different dates in 2020 and $125,000 once in 2021.

Investigators do not think Chavo acted alone. They accuse Theodore Jackson of helping him steal strangers’ identities to connect to the fake businesses. Investigators accuse them both of filling out applications and transferring the funds across bank accounts.

They both face eight counts of wire fraud and two counts of money laundering.

Agents arrested Jackson in Charleston, South Carolina, on Wednesday. Agents will transfer him to Atlanta where he will enter a plea during his first court appearance.

Chavo pleaded not guilty in federal court.

This is not the first time Chavo has been accused of financial crimes. He was convicted of stealing identities of at least 10,000 people in a 2012 tax return scheme. He served more than three years in prison for that.

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