There are a few issues that seem to elude most of the previous comments.
1 – Federal investigations rarely end up in trials. The pattern of the Feds is that they get involved in investigating, and utilize several different arms of law enforcement to get at all angles. The FBI is only one investigative arm. There are others, including postal service, IRS, and others. If there are state crimes involved, they can easily connect and collaborate with those investigators. By the time there are arrests, and the investigations are permitted to take time and be thorough, the evidence to convict is established. There are exceptions, but the rule is that all that one can do is to plea bargain, and there is rarely much wiggle room.
2 – It seems that the public assumes that chilul Hashem is that which occurs in the media. That is categorically inaccurate. What is the mishna in Pirkei Avos about מחלל שם שמים בסתר? One may review the Rambam (הלכות יסודי התורה פ”ה) to see that he discusses קידוש השם and חילול השם without regard to publicity, noting that if the event occurs before 10 Yidden, than it becomes ברבים. The issue of defrauding the government is a serious issue, and the chilul Hashem existed before there was media attention. And upon review of what Chazal say about chilul Hashem, it is clear that talmidei chachomim are held to a higher standard, and must be impeccably honest, completely above reproach. It is undeniable that that was the case here, and the fear that spread through the Lakewood community is testimony that the high standards that are a requirement for bnei Torah were not upheld.
There are lessons to learn here. The ניצוח about הלכות לשון הרע might be a wonderful academic discussion, but fails to address the problem in a meaningful way. There is a huge problem to fix, and the smokescreens do not help.