Six men from Texas were sentenced Monday for conspiring to fraudulently secure over $20 million in forgivable loans from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), backed by the Small Business Administration under the CARES Act.
Hamza Abbas, 31, Ammas Uddin, 31, and Arham Uddin, 27, all of Richmond, were sentenced to three years and eight months, one year and six months, and one year and six months in prison, respectively.
Syed Ali, 55, of Sugar Land, was sentenced to two years in prison, and Muhammad Anis, 55, and Jesus Acosta Perez, 33, both of Houston, were sentenced to one year and nine months and one year and one day in prison, respectively.
All six defendants previously pleaded guilty.
dT
he defendants fraudulently obtained PPP loans by submitting false applications, including inflated employee numbers and payroll expenses, supported by fake bank records and tax forms.
Hamza Abbas also enlisted others in the scheme, creating fraudulent documentation for kickbacks. They laundered money by issuing checks to non-existent employees and cashed at businesses owned by accomplices.
Additionally, in January, three co-conspirators were sentenced: Raheel Malik received one year and six months, Nishant Patel two years, and Harjeet Sing was given five years of probation, according to olicd. v
In October 2023, seven more individuals, including leader Amir Aqeel who received a 15-year sentence, were punished for their involvement.