Rochester man charged with using dead people's names to seek $1 million in CARES Act funds

Karen Dandurant, Fosters Daily Democrat
·2 min read

CONCORD — A Rochester man was indicted Wednesday on charges alleging he attempted to fraudulently obtain more than $1 million in federal CARES Act loans for companies that do not exist by using the identities of dead people.

Heath Gauthier, 46, of Rochester, was indicted by a federal grand jury and charged with multiple counts of wire fraud, attempted wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, according to Jane Young, U.S. attorney for New Hampshire.

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Gauthier was arrested Thursday and is being detained pending trial, according to Young.

The indictment alleges that between February 2020 and March 2021, Gauthier fraudulently applied for more than a dozen loans under the Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loan programs, according to Young.

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The programs were authorized by Congress to help millions of people and businesses adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. PP loans were issued by private lenders but fully guaranteed by the government, and EIDL funds were issued by the Small Business Administration.

According to the indictment, Gauthier listed people who have died in some applications as owners or employees of fictitious companies. He allegedly submitted false documents, including fabricated tax documents and counterfeit driver’s licenses, in support of the applications.

Heath Gauthier, 46, of Rochester, was charged with multiple counts of wire fraud, attempted wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.
Heath Gauthier, 46, of Rochester, was charged with multiple counts of wire fraud, attempted wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.

Gauthier was assigned a federal public defender, Dorothy Graham. She could not be immediately reached for comment. A spokesperson at the federal public defender's office said she was not in the office Friday.

The case was investigated by IRS Criminal Investigations, the FBI and the Treasury inspector general for tax administration. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew T. Hunter.

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

This article originally appeared on Fosters Daily Democrat: Rochester NH man charged with using dead people for CARES Act funds