A Seattle woman's ring stole $6.8 million from pandemic programs, led by the largest ERAP theft case in the nation
Paradise Williams, 29, of Seattle led a ring that from June 2020 to February 2022 submitted more than 125 fraudulent applications to King County's federally funded Emergency Rental Assistance Program, the Paycheck Protection Program, the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program, and CARES Act unemployment benefits, a scheme prosecutors called the largest such ERAP theft case in the nation. She enlisted over 50 associates, including five codefendants, to pose as fake tenants, landlords and small-business owners, fabricating bank statements, tenant ledgers and landlord attestations. The ring sought to steal more than $6.8 million; Williams personally obtained over $2 million, spending it on luxury cars, cosmetic surgery, jewellery and designer goods, and received more than $1.2 million in kickbacks from associates for facilitating their fraudulent submissions. She pleaded guilty to wire fraud and money laundering and was sentenced on March 5, 2024 to 5 years in prison.
- Year
- 2024
- Where
- United States
- Outcome
- Sentenced
- Reported loss
- $6.8 million
- Victims
- Not stated in the sources
- Schemes
- Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) fraud
- Last reviewed
- 2026-10-12
The facts, as recorded
- From June 2020 to February 2022, Paradise Williams personally submitted over 125 fraudulent applications for US Treasury Emergency Rental Assistance Program funds administered by King County, the Paycheck Protection Program, the Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program, and CARES Act unemployment benefits.
- She enlisted over 50 associates, including five codefendants, to obtain more than $3.3 million by posing as fake tenants, landlords and small-business owners, creating falsified bank statements, tenant ledgers and landlord attestations.
- Williams personally received more than $2 million in fraudulent proceeds, fraudulently obtaining over $700,000 directly from administering agencies and receiving more than $1.2 million in kickback payments from associates for facilitating their fraudulent submissions.
- She laundered the funds through cash withdrawals, wire transfers and expensive purchases, spending it on luxury cars, lavish trips, cosmetic surgery, jewellery and designer goods.
- On March 5, 2024, U.S. District Judge John H. Chun sentenced her in Seattle to 5 years in prison for wire fraud and money laundering. Under her plea agreement, she will pay restitution of $2,791,241 to the US Department of the Treasury and $512,730 to the Small Business Administration, and forfeit $2,023,104 along with a Lexus sedan and a Range Rover SUV bought with the proceeds.
- Her codefendants D'Arius Jackson, Tia Robinson, Rayvon Peterson and David Martinez had previously pleaded guilty; Jackson was sentenced to 3 years and Robinson to 18 months, with Peterson's and Martinez's sentencings scheduled for later in March 2024.
- US Attorney Tessa M. Gorman said: "Paradise Williams was relentless in her efforts to steal pandemic benefits throughout the entire duration of our national emergency, and it is unconscionable that she funded a life of luxury by stealing millions in taxpayer funds that should have prevented King County residents from being evicted in the winter." At sentencing, Judge Chun said: "These were serious and terrible crimes. [Williams and her co-defendants] stole from programs designed to help members of their community during the pandemic."
Why this case matters
This is the largest documented ERAP theft case prosecutors have identified in the nation, and the only case on this page where the fraud spanned not just rental assistance but nearly every other major pandemic relief program running at the same time: the Paycheck Protection Program, the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program, and CARES Act unemployment benefits. It shows ERAP fraud is rarely isolated; the same fabricated bank statements, tenant ledgers and landlord attestations that unlocked rental assistance unlocked other pandemic programs with the same self-attestation design.
A ring, not a lone applicant
Unlike the other two cases on this page, Williams did not act alone or through a single front organization. She enlisted more than 50 associates, paying some of them kickbacks of over $1.2 million in total for supplying fake tenant, landlord and small-business identities on applications she then submitted. That recruitment structure, paying people for identities rather than inventing them herself every time, is what let a single scheme reach $6.8 million.
What the money bought
Williams personally kept more than $2 million, converting it into luxury cars, lavish trips, cosmetic surgery, jewellery and designer goods rather than reinvesting it or hiding it offshore. The forfeiture order specifically named a Lexus sedan and a Range Rover SUV bought with the proceeds.
The caveat
Williams pleaded guilty and has been sentenced. The $6.8 million scheme total, the 125-plus applications, the 50-plus associates, and the specific dollar figures above reflect the Justice Department’s own charging and sentencing announcement; this page does not independently verify the underlying program records. Codefendants Rayvon Peterson and David Martinez were scheduled for sentencing later in March 2024; their final outcomes are not confirmed here.
People named in the public record
- Paradise Williams · convicted
Sources
- Leader of $6.8 million pandemic fraud scheme sentenced to 5 years in prison. US Department of Justice, US Attorney's Office, Western District of Washington. Accessed 2026-10-12. Supports: All facts above: the 125-plus fraudulent applications, the programs targeted, the 50-plus associates, the fabricated documents, the dollar figures, the laundering, the sentence, restitution, forfeiture, the codefendants' outcomes, and the Chun and Gorman quotes.