This article tells the story of Patrick Parker Walsh, a fraudster who used stolen COVID-19 relief funds to purchase Sweetheart Island, a two-acre uninhabited island off the coast of a small Gulf Coast town in Florida. Walsh is currently serving a five and a half year sentence in federal prison for his crime, and the Associated Press has documented the story. The article serves as a reminder of the consequences of pandemic-related fraud and the need for greater protection of public funds.
