A former Massachusetts woman now residing in Minnesota has been charged by a federal grand jury with illegally getting more than $100,000 in pandemic rental aid.
Yvonette Joseph, 45, of Minneapolis, Minnesota, and previously of Holliston, has been charged with two counts of theft of government funds and two counts of unauthorized monetary transactions, according to U.S. Attorney Leah Foley.
Joseph was previously charged with a criminal complaint in August 2025 and released on conditions.
According to the charging documents, Joseph received more than $100,000 in emergency rental assistance funds from the California Department of Housing and Community Development, the state’s ERA program administrator, in November 2021, after purported tenants submitted applications identifying Joseph as the landlord of a Los Angeles property.
According to prosecutors, Joseph allegedly transferred funds from one bank account she controlled to another before wiring some of the funds to a Nigerian bank account and others to a cryptocurrency exchange, which is a digital marketplace where users can buy, sell, and trade cryptocurrency.
Congress established the Emergency Rental Assistance program in 2021 to help eligible low-income households pay for rent, rental arrears, utilities, and other housing-related expenses during the COVID-19 epidemic.
Joseph faces up to ten years in prison, three years of supervised release, a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is larger, forfeiture, and restitution for each offense of theft of government funds and illegal monetary transactions.
Anyone with information about charges of attempted fraud with COVID-19 should contact the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud Hotline at this website.
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