![[Texas] Four more charged in $35m CARES Act fraud scheme](http://gpa.net/cdn/shop/articles/bigstock-HOUSTON-TEXAS--JANUARY----401794514_1200x.jpg?v=1640094561)
A grand jury in Houston, Texas, has charged four further people in relation to a $35million COVID-19 relief fraud scheme. There are now a total of 15 suspects in the case, Independent reports.
The defendants fraudulently obtained and laundered millions of dollars in forgivable loans from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), according to the US Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of Texas
The loans are guaranteed by the Small Business Administration as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act signed into law by former President Donald Trump in May 2020.
On December 15 the Justice Department announced details of the four people charged. They were Hamza Abbas (29), Khalid Abbas (55), Abdul Fatani (55), and Syed Ali (53).
The US Attorney’s office said the four had “conspired with others to submit more than 80 false and fraudulent PPP loan applications”.
They reportedly faked the number of employees and the payroll expenses of the applicant businesses, applying for more than $35m in loans and receiving around $18m, according to the indictment.
It is alleged that some of the money they received was laundered by writing cheques to fake workers and that some of the defendants and their family members received these cheques.
More than “1,100 fake paychecks totalling more than $3m in fraudulent PPP loan proceeds” were cashed at the Almeda Discount Store, the Justice Department said.
The individuals previously charged in the case were Amir Aqeel (53), Pardeep Basra (52), Rifat Bajwa (53), Mayer Misak (41), Mauricio Navia (42), Richard Reuth (58), and Siddiq Azeemuddin (42).
Six of the defendants; Azeemuddin and Reuth together with Abdul Farahshah (70), Jesus Acosta Perez (31), Bijan Rajabi (68), and Raheel Malik (41), have entered guilty pleas for their involvement.
It is also alleged that one of the defendants, Mr Aqeel, “submitted PPP loan applications by stealing the identities” of others.
The maximum penalties the defendants face are “20 years in prison per count of wire fraud and 10 years for each money laundering conviction”.
Aggravated identity theft has a minimum sentence of two years in addition to penalties for other crimes.
More than 150 defendants have been prosecuted in over 95 cases, with more than $75m in cash, real estate, and luxury items being seized, since the CARES Act was signed into law
Source: Independent
A grand jury in Houston, Texas, has charged four further people in relation to a $35million COVID-19 relief fraud scheme. There are now a total of 15 suspects in the case, Independent reports.
The defendants fraudulently obtained and laundered millions of dollars in forgivable loans from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), according to the US Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of Texas
The loans are guaranteed by the Small Business Administration as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act signed into law by former President Donald Trump in May 2020.
On December 15 the Justice Department announced details of the four people charged. They were Hamza Abbas (29), Khalid Abbas (55), Abdul Fatani (55), and Syed Ali (53).
The US Attorney’s office said the four had “conspired with others to submit more than 80 false and fraudulent PPP loan applications”.
They reportedly faked the number of employees and the payroll expenses of the applicant businesses, applying for more than $35m in loans and receiving around $18m, according to the indictment.
It is alleged that some of the money they received was laundered by writing cheques to fake workers and that some of the defendants and their family members received these cheques.
More than “1,100 fake paychecks totalling more than $3m in fraudulent PPP loan proceeds” were cashed at the Almeda Discount Store, the Justice Department said.
The individuals previously charged in the case were Amir Aqeel (53), Pardeep Basra (52), Rifat Bajwa (53), Mayer Misak (41), Mauricio Navia (42), Richard Reuth (58), and Siddiq Azeemuddin (42).
Six of the defendants; Azeemuddin and Reuth together with Abdul Farahshah (70), Jesus Acosta Perez (31), Bijan Rajabi (68), and Raheel Malik (41), have entered guilty pleas for their involvement.
It is also alleged that one of the defendants, Mr Aqeel, “submitted PPP loan applications by stealing the identities” of others.
The maximum penalties the defendants face are “20 years in prison per count of wire fraud and 10 years for each money laundering conviction”.
Aggravated identity theft has a minimum sentence of two years in addition to penalties for other crimes.
More than 150 defendants have been prosecuted in over 95 cases, with more than $75m in cash, real estate, and luxury items being seized, since the CARES Act was signed into law
Source: Independent