{"id":54249,"date":"2023-10-03T19:11:33","date_gmt":"2023-10-04T02:11:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=54249"},"modified":"2023-10-03T19:13:28","modified_gmt":"2023-10-04T02:13:28","slug":"head-of-multimillion-dollar-covid-19-relief-fraud-ring-sentenced-to-15-years-in-prison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=54249","title":{"rendered":"Head of Multimillion-Dollar COVID-19 Relief Fraud Ring Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

TEXAS<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"Officials stated that the leader of a multimillion-dollar COVID-19 relief fraud ring and six accomplices were imprisoned for defrauding the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) of more than $20 million in forgiven debts.<\/span><\/p>\n

Amir Aqeel, 54, of Houston, was sentenced Friday to 15 years in jail and ordered to forfeit $5.5 million for organizing the conspiracy and for planning to file 75 false PPP loan applications in 2020 with at least 14 other people, according to court records.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"The defendants provided false bank records and fabricated federal tax forms supporting the PPP loan applications. They lied about the number of employees and average monthly payroll expenditures of the applicant firms.<\/span><\/p>\n

In exchange for their cooperation with the fictitious and fraudulent PPP loan applications, Aqeel gave several of the defendants sizable bribes.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"\u201cDuring a time of unprecedented national peril, these defendants took advantage of a pandemic and stole millions of dollars in federal funds intended to help businesses keep their employees paid and their doors open,\u201d said Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri of the Justice Department\u2019s Criminal Division. \u201cThe sentences demonstrate that the Department and law enforcement have and will continue to hold individuals accountable for committing fraud on the government.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The defendants also laundered a portion of the fraudulent proceeds by writing checks from companies that received PPP loans to fake employees.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"The defendants cashed these fake paychecks at Fascare International Inc., dba Almeda Discount Store (Almeda), a company that Siddiq Azeemuddin owned.<\/span><\/p>\n

The defendants cashed over 1,100 fake paychecks for over $3 million in fraudulent PPP loan proceeds at Almeda.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOne unfortunate aspect of the pandemic relief programs has been how many people and institutions, including the Federal Home Loan Banks, were negatively affected by unscrupulous criminals who targeted a program meant to help all Americans at a critical time,\u201d said Special Agent in Charge Catherine Huber of the Office of Inspector General\u2019s (FHFA-OIG) Central Region. \u201cWe are proud to work with our partner agencies to investigate and stamp out these schemes.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\"\"In connection with the investigation, federal authorities also carried out 45 search warrants, confiscating 45 different assets, including a home, a Porsche, and a Lamborghini, all bought using unlawfully obtained money.<\/span><\/p>\n

Five other people who had already entered guilty pleas for their participation in the loan fraud conspiracy were sentenced today.<\/span><\/p>\n

Both Richmond, Texas residents Rifat Bajwa, 54, and Khalid Abbas, 57, received jail terms of two and a half years and three years, respectively.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"Azeemuddin, 44, was convicted and given a two-year jail term in Naperville, Illinois. Houston resident Pardeep Basra, 54, was given a three-year, five-month jail term. 60-year-old Spring, Texas resident Richard Reuth received a two-and-a-half-year jail term.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

In February, a federal jury\u00a0convicted<\/a> Abdul Fatani, 57, of Richmond, Texas, of one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, one count of wire fraud, and one count of money laundering. He was sentenced Tuesday to three years in prison.<\/span><\/p>\n

Trial Attorneys Louis Manzo, Della Sentilles, Kate McCarthy, and Spencer Ryan of the Criminal Division\u2019s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rodolfo Ramirez and Kristine Rollinson for the Southern District of Texas are prosecuting the cases. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice\u2019s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at\u00a0www.justice.gov\/disaster-fraud\/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

TEXAS Officials stated that the leader of a multimillion-dollar COVID-19 relief fraud ring and six accomplices were imprisoned for defrauding the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) of more than $20 million in forgiven…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16417,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3255],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-federal-court"],"yoast_head":"\nHead of Multimillion-Dollar COVID-19 Relief Fraud Ring Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"TEXAS Officials stated that the leader of a multimillion-dollar COVID-19 relief fraud ring and six accomplices were imprisoned for defrauding the Paycheck\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link 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