Mexican National Pleads Guilty to COVID Relief Fraud, Employing Illegal Aliens
By J. Thomas Wade
Blue RAM Media/Gulf Coast News
September 12, 2026
MOBILE, Ala.
Federal authorities conducted numerous raids on Mexican restaurants in Alabama and Florida in 2025 and arrested Cesar Campos-Reyes, an owner of those restaurants.
The investigation surrounded the illegal operations of the business and a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan program fraud investigation targeting Campos-Reyes.
On Wednesday, Campos-Reyes pleaded guilty to federal money laundering and employing illegal alien charges.
Campos-Reyes also pleaded guilty on Wednesday to wire fraud.
The charges stem from an investigation related to three Mexican nationals, including Campos-Reyes, who were charged after local, state, and federal law enforcement raided multiple Mexican restaurants across Alabama.
Multiple federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies executed search warrants at multiple Mexican restaurants across the River Region and Auburn in July 2025 as part of a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan program fraud investigation targeting Campos-Reyes.
“Federal COVID relief funds were intended to help legitimate businesses and their employees, not to be diverted for personal gain or used to support an unlawful workforce,” said U.S. Attorney Thomas Govan. “This defendant defrauded programs designed to assist American businesses, misused taxpayer-funded assistance, and knowingly employed individuals who were not authorized to work in the United States. We will continue to hold accountable those who abuse federal programs and violate federal law.”
According to court documents and admissions made as part of his guilty plea, in May 2020, Campos-Reyes fraudulently applied for and received approximately $866,500 in funds through the PPP and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program. The PPP and EIDL programs were established under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act to provide financial assistance to eligible small businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Campos‑Reyes admitted that he did not use the relief funds for their intended purposes. Instead, in June 2020, he used $262,145.20 to purchase real property located in Opelika.
Campos‑Reyes further admitted that, up to July 15, 2025, he knowingly hired and employed unauthorized aliens at multiple restaurants he owned or operated, fully aware that they were not permitted to work in the United States.
A sentencing hearing for Campos-Reyes will be scheduled in the coming months. At that hearing, he faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison for wire fraud, up to 10 years for money laundering, and up to six months in prison for unlawful employment of aliens. Campos-Reyes also faces substantial fines and the forfeiture of proceeds seized during the investigation.
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