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The Hightower Hurricanes are among the area's hoops squads earning high marks in preseason rankings. Read more inside today's edition on Page 4. (Photo by Landan Kuhlmann)
WEDNESDAY • NOVEMBER 25, 2020
Fort Bend / Southwest • Volume 44 • No. 14
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Area man charged in COVID-19 fraud scheme By Stefan Modrich SMODRICH@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
A Richmond resident is among seven alleged parFamily Holiday Package ticipants in a scheme to Call for Details obtain approximately $16 million in forgivable Pay9920 Hwy 90A Suite #D-120 Sugar Land, TX 77478 check Protection Program 832-532-7816 (PPP) loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, acCafé & Bakery cording to a Nov. 17 news release from the U.S. DeNOWOPEN Next to Corelli’s partment Italian of Justice.
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Rifat Bajwa, 51, of Richmond; Mauricio Navia, 41, of Katy; Amir Aqeel, 52, and Pardeep Basra, 51, both of Houston; Mayer Misak, 40, of Cypress; and Richard Reuth, 57, of
Spring were all charged with wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The indictment also charges Aqeel with three counts of money laundering. Federal agents executed 45 seizure warrants in conjunction with the case, according to the Department of Justice. Some of the items seized included a Porsche and a Lamborghini allegedly purchased with illegally obtained funds. “These defendants al-
legedly participated in a scheme to capitalize on the pandemic by filing at least 80 fraudulent PPP applications and enriching themselves by $16 million, spending it on luxury items such as a Porsche and Lamborghini automobiles,” acting Assistant Attorney General Brian C. Rabbitt of the Justice Department’s criminal division said in a news release. “The department and our law enforcement partners will continue to aggressively pursue those who would seek to ille-
gally exploit the ongoing national emergency for their own benefit.” The CARES Act is a federal law designed to provide emergency financial assistance to Americans who are suffering the economic effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The defendants made their initial appearances before U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrew M. Edison of the U.S. District Court
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Hospital CEOs urge caution during holiday By Stefan Modrich SMODRICH@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
Amid an increase in the number of COVID-19 patients requiring hospitalizations in Fort Bend County, area hospital CEOs wrote a letter Nov. 17 urging county residents to exercise caution and limit family gatherings for Thanksgiving, a sentiment shared by County Judge KP George. The letter was signed by Chris Siebenaler, CEO of Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital; Malisha Patel, CEO of Memorial Hermann Southwest Hospital and Memorial Hermann Sugar Land Hospital; Joe Freudenberger, CEO of OakBend Medical Center; and Steven Foster, the South Houston market president of St. Luke’s Health System. “Beginning with Thanksgiving, and continuing through the New Year, we must be extra vigilant in our celebrations and our daily activities to protect ourselves and our loved ones from COVID-19,” the panel of medical leaders wrote. “Slowing the spread throughout our community and protecting those who are most vulnerable is the best holiday gift we can give this year.” The reminder of the guidelines and recommendations issued by health experts at the start of the pandemic comes at a time when the cases have increased, according to the county’s COVID-19 data hub. While cases leveled off dra-
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Freudenberger
Runners take off during last year's The Thankful Ones Turkey Trot 5K run in Richmond. This year's event will still take place as scheduled on Thursday, Nov. 26 despite the COVID-19 pandemic, with plans to socially distance and distribute masks to all participants. (Contributed photo)
Richmond nonprofit to hold Thanksgiving race By Stefan Modrich SMODRICH@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
This year’s The Thankful Ones Turkey Trot in Pecan Grove will look different. But founder Matthew Martin is eager to try to make the event safe for all involved as he and his nonprofit strive to aid in the adoption of children whose parents have been afflicted by addiction or substance abuse. Nonprofits large and small across Fort Bend County and beyond have been severely impacted by COVID-19. But the effects of the pandemic have reached far beyond 5K and fun-run races. The third annual Thanks-
Runners smile for the camera as they take part in last year's The Thankful Ones 5K in Pecan Grove. (Contributed photo)
giving Day race is a significant part of the organization’s presence in the community. The cost is $25 per adult and
$5 for children, and this year 100 percent of the proceeds from the event will go to Child Advocates of Fort Bend
(CAFB). The mission of CAFB is to "provide a voice, heal the hurt, and break the cycle of abuse and neglect for children in Fort Bend County." After meeting with other children-oriented nonprofit organizations like CAFB over the summer following a period of shelter-in-place orders in the spring, Martin said he was inspired to take action. He said the first people to report an instance of abuse or neglect often come from the community in which a child interacts: their school, their church or myriad extracurricular activities. “They basically told me that they had never seen their facility as quiet as it had been,” Martin said. “And that
was disturbing because when children are being abused, neglected, sexually or physically (assaulted), most of the time the initial alert comes from someone outside of the home.” He toured a new CAFB call center during the summer. “They basically said their phones didn’t ring from March all the way up through May,” Martin said. Martin added that CAFB started to see an increase in calls “on a limited basis” after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced the second phase of his plan to reopen businesses on May 18.
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Sugar Land resident helps children's hospital By Stefan Modrich SMODRICH@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
Ray Younkin’s musical journey began when he heard his first Bruce Springsteen album at age 7 Almost 34 years later, the Sugar Land resident has become an accomplished performing and recording artist, working as a soloist and with multiple bands. One of those bandmates was Houston’s Anita Kruse, a recurring collaborator who has performed with Younkin several times and was also a former bandmate of his. She sang backup vocals for his live cover of Warren Zevon’s
song “Keep Me In Your Heart” in 2011. The two teamed up again at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March with a series of illustrations called “Purple Lovables,” a portion of the sales of which will benefit their nonprofit Purple Songs Can Fly, which is dedicated to providing a creative musical outlet for children at Texas Children’s Cancer and Hematology Centers. Younkin is no stranger to charitable or altruistic work. He served for 12 years as the executive producer for Music Doing Good, a nonprofit dedicated to providing underserved children and communities with musical
opportunities and education that was otherwise absent from their lives. Kruse, a pianist and songwriter, began to doodle on a sketch pad with a purple pen while caring for her elderly mother. “I needed a tangible thing to do that was using my hands,” Kruse said. “I’ve never thought of myself as a visual artist or anything like that. But it was a very positive thing just for me personally.” The drawings began simply as cute faces and baby animals. The child-like art served as a creative outlet
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Ray Younkin (Contributed Photo)