On 16 April 2025, the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau issued seven “Notice of Suspension and Initiation of Debarment” letters to individuals convicted of an E-rate wire-fraud conspiracy. The individuals, Simon Goldbrener, Susan Klein, Ben Klein, Peretz Klein, Aron Melber, Moshe Schwartz, and Sholem Steinberg, pleaded guilty to wire fraud for falsifying documents and overbilling for equipment/services. Sentences range from time served up to 48 months imprisonment, plus supervised release, and restitution totaling approximately $3.7 million.
Total court-ordered restitution: $3,774,758.342.
FCC Process (per §54.8 rules)
- Automatic suspension – effective on receipt/Federal Register publication.
- Debarment notice – 3-year ban (can be extended) from all USF mechanisms (E-rate, Rural Health, Lifeline, High-Cost).
- Due process window – 30 days to file arguments; Bureau may lift/limit only for “extraordinary circumstances”.
- Final decision – within 90 days; once effective, participation ban runs its course.
Importance for the E-rate Community
- Stepped-up enforcement: largest single-day set of E-rate debarments since the FCC broadened the rules to all USF programs.
- Compliance reminder: strict separation of consultants/vendors from the competitive-bidding process and the need for verifiable delivery.
- Practical impact: any entity employing or associating with the named individuals during suspension/debarment risks its own funding eligibility.
The FCC’s public release can be viewed here.
