Seven men stole money that was set aside to help people during the pandemic. The FBI caught up with them this week. Agents made arrests in three states: Nevada, Arizona, and Texas.

All seven men are from Las Vegas. One of them, Marcus Dushun McMillian-Bonner, was picked up in Richmond, Texas, right outside Houston.

The other six were caught in Las Vegas and Phoenix. Also charged: Elias Santino Acereto, Sheyland Barnett, James Freeman, Yves Harrison Pierre, and Nathan Jeffry Scott.

Each man is now facing federal wire fraud charges. Wire fraud can mean up to 20 years in prison.

The men lied to get money from two federal COVID programs. The first was called the Paycheck Protection Program, or PPP. The second was the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program, or EIDL. Both programs sent out cash fast during the pandemic. The goal was to help small businesses keep paying their workers.

These men filled out loan forms with fake information. They made up fake documents. They said they had real businesses that needed help. The money came in. They kept it.

Together, they stole about $205,000.

Six of the men each face one wire fraud charge. Freeman faces two. A federal judge will decide the final sentence if they are found guilty. The max is 20 years per count.

Prosecutors were direct about what they think happened.

"Seven defendants are alleged to have exploited government-funded programs designed to provide emergency financial assistance to Americans to line their pockets," said Sigal Chattah, the top federal prosecutor in Nevada.

FBI offices in Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Houston all worked this case together. The Small Business Administration's inspector general also helped. So did local police in Las Vegas.

The arrest in Richmond shows the feds follow the case wherever it goes. They tracked this one from Las Vegas all the way to Texas.

The Department of Justice is pushing hard on COVID fraud. The DOJ has a special team for it called the National Fraud Enforcement Division. That team's job is to find every person who stole relief money. It will keep working until the cases run out.

The PPP and EIDL programs moved fast. Too fast, some say. In the early days of COVID, the government sent money out with few checks. Billions of dollars went out the door quickly. That made it easy for people to cheat the system.

The government has been sorting through the mess ever since. Cases like this one are still being filed years after the pandemic. The DOJ says the work is not done.

Federal COVID money came to every part of the country. That includes South Texas and the Rio Grande Valley. Businesses and workers here got PPP and EIDL loans too. Federal investigators are still checking how that money was used across the country.

If you got a COVID loan and used it the right way, you are fine. If someone filed fake papers or made up a fake business, the feds are still on it.

These seven men now have a court date. They are not guilty yet. A jury will decide.

The money they are accused of taking was not theirs. It was meant for working people who were trying to keep their doors open.

The FBI says these cases will not be dropped.

The FBI says it will not stop. More charges are coming. More arrests too.

Got a tip on COVID loan fraud in South Texas? Report it to the FBI's Houston office or the SBA inspector general online.