FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, August 26, 2025
Broadway Producer Sentenced for Fraudulent COVID-19 Grant Scheme
Defendant Pleaded Guilty to Falsifying Records to Obtain $69,000 in Pandemic Relief Funds
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, together with New York State Inspector General Lucy Lang, announced today that a Brooklyn woman has been sentenced for fraudulently obtaining more than $69,000 in COVID-19 small business recovery grants by filing falsified records.
District Attorney Gonzalez said, “This defendant took advantage of a public health crisis by falsifying records to secure government aid that was meant to keep struggling small businesses afloat. My office will continue to investigate and prosecute those who attempt to enrich themselves through fraud at the expense of programs designed to protect New Yorkers.”
Inspector General Lang said, “Abuse of scarce state resources — during the pandemic and always — is a crime against both government and New Yorkers in need. Thank you to our partners at the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office for sharing our commitment to public integrity and to ensuring accountability for those who undermine it.”
The District Attorney identified the defendant as Suzanne Gilad, 54, of Prospect Heights, Brooklyn. She pleaded guilty to second-degree falsifying business records and was sentenced by Brooklyn Criminal Court Judge Janet McDonnell on April 28, 2025 to a conditional discharge and ordered to complete 210 hours of community service, proof of which she provided to the court today. The defendant previously reimbursed the State for the funds.
The District Attorney said that, according to the evidence, between December 2021 and January 2022, the defendant submitted multiple fraudulent applications for grants offered by the New York State Empire State Development to assist businesses that experienced financial losses during the COVID-19 pandemic. The defendant submitted falsified copies of federal business income tax returns on behalf of three companies she controlled: In Fine Company LLC, Custom Broadway LLC and All the Josh Cohens LLC. As a result of the fraudulent applications, the defendant received approximately $69,099 in grant funds, which she then transferred into her personal bank accounts.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Kirsten Tamayo of the District Attorney’s Fraud Bureau and Assistant District Attorney Adam Libove, Deputy Chief of the District Attorney’s Public Integrity Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorneys Laura Neubauer, Chief of the Public Integrity Bureau, Michel Spanakos, Deputy Chief of the Investigations Division, and Patricia McNeill, Chief of the Investigations Division.
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