{"id":50360,"date":"2022-07-15T19:18:03","date_gmt":"2022-07-16T02:18:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=50360"},"modified":"2022-07-15T19:20:25","modified_gmt":"2022-07-16T02:20:25","slug":"california-man-guilty-of-helping-client-get-covid-relief-loan-through-fraud","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=50360","title":{"rendered":"California Man Guilty of Helping Client Get COVID Relief Loan Through Fraud, Facing Up to 20 Years in Prison"},"content":{"rendered":"

LOS ANGELES\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"FBI
FBI Photo Image<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A San Fernando Valley certified public accountant plead guilty Friday to a federal criminal charge for helping a long-time client fraudulently get a $1.2 million COVID-19 business loan by knowingly preparing a false corporate tax return on the client\u2019s behalf, officials stated.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Bernard Turk, 73, of Tarzana, plead guilty to one count of wire fraud. He is facing up to 20 years in federal prison.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 According to court documents, Turk is a certified public accountant who runs a tax preparation business in Tarzana. <\/span><\/p>\n

In February 2021, Turk helped a long-time client submit a false application for a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan on behalf of the client\u2019s company, Agency 126, a purported marketing and video production agency based in Irvine.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"person
Photo by Thomas Lefebvre<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0 PPP is a government-backed loan program designed by Congress to help small businesses stay afloat and keep their workforces employed during the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Specifically, Turk prepared a false federal corporate income tax return, claiming that Agency 126 paid employees $5,383,401 in wages during the 2019 tax year. <\/span><\/p>\n

Turk provided the false 2019 tax return to his client to submit to a bank to support the PPP loan sought by the client. To hide his involvement, Turk marked the false tax return \u201cself-prepared.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \"\"\u00a0 Turk admitted that both he and his client knew that Agency 126 had no employees, paid no wages, and never filed tax returns with the IRS.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The client electronically submitted the false tax return that Turk prepared to the Small Business Administration and the bank in support of Agency 126\u2019s fraudulent PPP loan application. <\/span><\/p>\n

On the false 2019 tax return submitted to the bank, the client removed the \u201cself-prepared\u201d designation and replaced it with Turk as the preparer.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Relying, in part, on the false tax return, the bank and the SBA approved and funded Agency 126\u2019s PPP loan and wired $1,212,312 to a bank account that the client controlled. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"For his role in the scheme, Turk was to receive a percentage of the loan proceeds when the bank forgave the loan.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 U.S. District Judge Josephine L. Staton scheduled Turk\u2019s sentencing hearing for October 7.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Small Business Administration\u2019s Office of Inspector General, Homeland Security Investigations, IRS Criminal Investigation, and the FBI is investigating this matter.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/b>Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer L. Waier of the Santa Ana Branch Office is prosecuting this case.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Anyone with general information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Justice Department\u2019s National Center for Disaster Fraud Hotline at (866) 720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at:\u00a0https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/disaster-fraud\/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LOS ANGELES\u00a0 A San Fernando Valley certified public accountant plead guilty Friday to a federal criminal charge for helping a long-time client fraudulently get a $1.2 million COVID-19 business loan by knowingly…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39766,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-50360","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nCalifornia Man Guilty of Helping Client Get COVID Relief Loan Through Fraud, Facing Up to 20 Years in Prison<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"LOS ANGELES\u00a0 A San Fernando Valley certified public accountant plead guilty Friday to a federal criminal charge for helping a long-time client\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" 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