OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERALPress Releases
Lehigh County Woman Pleads Guilty to Scheme to Defraud the Government Through Bogus Pandemic Loan Applications, False Tax Returns
October 27, 2026
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General
PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that Mayerlyn Cordero, 48, of Allentown, Pennsylvania, entered a plea of guilty today before United States District Judge Joseph F. Leeson Jr. to five counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to file false claims, in connection with a scheme to defraud the U.S. government’s Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (“EIDL”) program — both established as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act, a federal law enacted in March 2020 — and the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”).
The defendant was charged by indictment in February.
As detailed in court filings and statements, Cordero admitted that she electronically filed two fraudulent PPP loan applications in the name of the tax preparation business that she operated (“May Tax”), which included materially false information that inflated the number of the employees and included a false tax document, as well as a fraudulent EIDL application for May Tax that also falsely inflated the number of employees allegedly employed at the business. In addition, the defendant was responsible for filing false and fraudulent PPP applications in the names of other companies, R&P Trucking and KS Transport.
In total, Cordero was responsible for filing approximately 13 false and fraudulent PPP/EIDL applications, which totaled approximately $1,009,050 in funded loans.
She also filed 23 fraudulent tax returns using stolen Personally Identifiable Information provided by a co-conspirator, despite knowing that the information she provided in support of these tax returns was false.
The defendant is scheduled to be sentenced on February 3. For each count of wire fraud, she faces a maximum possible term of 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000, and for the conspiracy charge, she faces a maximum possible sentence of 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine.
On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division (“Fraud Division”). The Fraud Division is laser-focused on investigating and prosecuting those who commit fraud against the American people. The Department’s work to combat fraud supports President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs.
This case was investigated by FBI Philadelphia’s Allentown Resident Agency, IRS Criminal Investigation, and the Department of Labor Office of Inspector General and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney S. Chandler Harris.
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