Durrant Pate/ Contributor

Forty-one-year old South Florida resident, Elaine Angene Escoe, who was wanted for her alleged role in a US$34 million COVID-19 relief funds fraud scheme has made the FBI’s new “Most Wanted Fraudsters” list has been captured in Jamaica.

Esco, who was arrested in Jamaica, has since been returned to South Florida to face federal charges. She faces multiple charges, including conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, wire fraud, concealment of money laundering and transactional money laundering.

According to federal investigators, Jamaican authorities, acting on information developed by the FBI, captured Escoe after receiving a tip, and she was then returned to South Florida. The FBI had offered a reward of up to US$150,000 for information leading to her arrest and conviction.

Never showed up for court

Escoe is one of the first eight fugitives to make the new list announced by FBI Director Kash Patel back in June. Escoe was last seen in Palm Beach County on June 3, 2025, and had been scheduled for an appearance in court two days later but never showed up, officials said. 

A federal arrest warrant had been issued for her on May 22, 2025. Escoe and others allegedly submitted more than 90 fraudulent applications for funds from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), Economic Injury Disaster Loans, Restaurant Revitalisation Fund (RRF), and Shuttered Venue Operators Grant (SVOG) between May of 2020 and November of 2021, officials said.

The applications allegedly contained false information regarding employee counts, payroll expenses, and business revenues. The scheme resulted in the wrongful disbursement of approximately US$29.1 million in PPP funds, US$1.2 million in RRF funds, and US$3.8 million in SVOG funds.

After the funds were disbursed, Escoe and others allegedly directed payments to each other and to businesses they controlled, withdrew large sums in cash, and used blank, signed checks to conceal the origin and nature of the proceeds. Escoe was the last defendant who was charged in the scheme.

After a 2025 trial, Alfred Davis, Cher Davis, and Latoya Clark were convicted by a federal jury, while James McGhow and Gino Jourdan previously pleaded guilty. Davis was sentenced to 235 months’ in prison, Davis to 87 months, Clark to 70 months, Jourdan to 46 months, and McGhow to 42 months.