SANTA ANA, California
According to officials, a Culver City man and restauranteur who owns a hospitality company with restaurants and hotels in California, Tennessee, and Kentucky pleaded guilty on Thursday to fraudulently obtaining over $4 million in COVID-19 relief loans.
Philip Frederick Camino, 45, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) are two federal programs that Congress established in the spring of 2020 to offer financial assistance to Americans suffering from the COVID-19 pandemic’s economic effects.
According to his plea agreement, Camino, who owns several companies in Hollywood, Westwood, Studio City, Beverly Hills, and Arizona, engaged in fraudulent activity between April 2020 and April 2021.
He submitted numerous false applications to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and various banks to secure PPP and EIDL funds.
Camino’s applications included false statements, such as inflating the number of employees supposedly on payroll, submitting fictitious federal tax forms that were never filed with the IRS, and falsely certifying that the loan proceeds would be used for legitimate business purposes.
Relying on Camino’s deceptive information, the SBA and lenders approved and disbursed the loans deposited into bank accounts under Camino’s control.
Camino then used the majority of these fraudulently obtained funds for unauthorized expenses, including paying over $100,000 in kickbacks to an accomplice.
For instance, in June 2020, Camino sent a bank falsified documents to support a $144,270 fraudulent PPP loan application on behalf of a co-conspirator-controlled business.
Camino submitted over 20 fraudulent loan applications, illegally securing over $4 million.
United States District Judge Fred W. Slaughter scheduled a March 6, 2025, sentencing hearing. Camino faces up to 20 years in federal prison.
Homeland Security Investigations, the FBI, and IRS Criminal Investigation are investigating this matter.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer L. Waier of the Santa Ana Branch Office is prosecuting this case.