MIAMI – A Miami woman is headed to federal prison after authorities say she fraudulently obtained nearly $2 million in COVID-19 relief funds over a two-year period.

According to court records, From April 2020 to April of 2021, 58-year-old Maritza Morales Hermoso, and others, including Javier Lazo Cabrera, conspired to defraud private lenders and the Small Business Administration by submitting fraudulent loan applications under the Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program.

Investigators say Hermoso submitted a loan application with false information on it, and during that time received electronic wire transfers of $2 million in fraudulent loan proceeds to bank accounts that she controlled.

Authorities said Hermoso spent the proceeds from the fraudulent loans on gambling at South Florida casinos and various other personal expenses like cosmetic surgery, a Cadillac Escalade and a Pomeranian puppy.

She also disguised her misuse of funds by laundering the loan proceeds through multiple unrelated business accounts and withdrawing the money in cash, according to investigators.

Hermoso pleaded guilty last December on one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

On Wednesday, federal prosecutors announced that a judge had sentenced Hermoso to spend five years in federal prison.