The FBI has nabbed one of its “Most Wanted” fraudsters, despite the suspect throwing investigators a real curveball.
Elaine Angene Escoe, a 41-year-old woman masquerading in Jamaica as “Harley Newman,” was busted on the Caribbean island and dragged back to the United States to face criminal charges.
She was indicted in 2025 on charges that included conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and multiple counts of money laundering, per the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida. She is believed to have stolen roughly $32 million in COVID relief funds.
When Escoe failed to appear in court in May 2025, a judge issued an arrest warrant. She was arrested in Jamaica after the FBI received a tip.
FBI MIAMI CASE UPDATE: FBI Special Agents return with Most Wanted Fraudster Elaine Angene Escoe from Jamaica. This is another example, in a series of examples, of the FBI’s resolve to bring financial fraudsters to justice. Elaine Angene Escoe was wanted for her alleged… pic.twitter.com/by2a9sYAKz
— FBI Miami (@FBIMiamiFL) July 25, 2026
"This Most Wanted Fraudster allegedly obtained tens of millions in COVID-19 relief, stealing critical resources from legitimate businesses during a national crisis," acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said.
"She fled the country believing she could escape justice but ultimately could not," he added. "Those who exploit taxpayer-funded programs will be held accountable by this Department of Justice, no matter how long it takes or where they attempt to hide."
FBI Director Kash Patel highlighted that this was the fourth alleged “Most Wanted Fraudster” that had been apprehended in the last five weeks.
READ MORE: Got Him: 'Most Wanted Fraudster' Accused in Massive Medicare Scam Caught With Fake Mexican Passport
"The historic success of the 'Most Wanted Fraudster' list continues as the FBI, and our partners just captured our fourth Most Wanted Fraudster in 5 weeks, and yet another high value target returned to the U.S. by this FBI," Patel said. "Elaine Angene Escoe, on the run since May 2025, was captured in Jamaica while living under a fake identity of 'Harley Newman' — and returned to the United States today to face justice."
Patel noted that the four suspects arrested for alleged fraud were facing charges over nearly $1.8 billion in money stolen from taxpayers. But it’s a paltry amount compared to the hundreds of billions of dollars in estimated COVID fraud.
Open the Books, a government spending watchdog, lays out the breathtaking scale of the fraud:
Open the Books identified an estimated $400 billion in fraud in a series of COVID-19 programs due to a rushed rollout and lax oversight. Although the full extent of pandemic relief fraud is not known, estimates from some of the largest pandemic relief programs put losses at around $300 billion.
If we take that $300 billion and divide it up among taxpayers, that leaves households on the hook for $2,260 each. $400 billion, on the other hand, would cost households an eye-catching $3,013 each.
Congress authorized about $4.6 trillion in emergency COVID-19 relief between 2020 and 2021 for vulnerable businesses and struggling families, but fraud was identified in at least 19 different pandemic-relief programs, according to an April 2025 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report. If the government’s $300 billion fraud calculation is correct, then 6.5% of all pandemic aid was incorrectly distributed. What we have compiled is just a fraction of the hundreds of charged cases and undetected schemes.
The FBI should be applauded for collaring a few high-profile suspects who may or may not be guilty of serious fraud schemes.
But the massive amount of COVID relief fraud, at least $300 billion if not nearly $1 trillion, suggests the U.S. government may be guiltier for these fraud schemes than these pikers.
After all, who else could spend trillions of dollars in taxpayer money and “lose” hundreds of billions of dollars with no accountability whatsoever, except for the U.S. government?
The lack of oversight is not a matter of “accidents happen” but more of a systemic issue that always strikes big government programs. Bureaucracy is ill-equipped to be a safeguard of the public treasury.
As much as corporations are vilified, at least CEOs care where their money is going. If they spend their corporations’ money unwisely, they are at least held accountable by the market or their shareholders.
The U.S. government does not have this mechanism of accountability. It can always debt-spend because of the Fed or Treasury bills, or else use coercion to raise our taxes.
The COVID relief program is one of the biggest boondoggles in American history. The FBI can capture a few low-level criminals who abused the system, but we really need to reassess how the government can blow these immense sums of taxpayer money to begin with.
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