LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A person who stole greater than $11 million meant to assist struggling companies throughout the COVID pandemic will serve no less than 15 years in jail, a decide dominated Thursday.
Final 12 months, a jury convicted Meelad Dezfooli, of Henderson, for fraudulently receiving greater than $11.2 million in PPP loans to purchase houses and vehicles and to fund investments, prosecutors mentioned. Investigators mentioned they tracked the cash to properties in Las Vegas and Henderson, and the acquisition of a Tesla and Bentley, paperwork mentioned.
The Paycheck Safety Program was meant to assist corporations pay and retain workers throughout the first 12 months of the coronavirus pandemic.
A jury convicted Dezfooli on fees of financial institution fraud, cash laundering and fascinating in financial transactions in criminally derived property. On Thursday, Decide Cristina Silva sentenced Dezfooli to no less than 15 years in jail plus 5 years of supervised launch.
Throughout trial, prosecutors mentioned Dezfooli lied on mortgage purposes, claiming he had tons of of workers for one utility when, in reality, he had none. Dezfooli’s utility for a PPP mortgage mentioned his firm, Greatest Flooring, had an “average monthly payroll” of about $440,000 to cowl 76 workers, investigators mentioned in courtroom paperwork. Investigators mentioned Dezfooli had a quarterly payroll of lower than $1,400 and one worker.
Dezfooli laundered the cash and purchased about 25 properties, usually utilizing the alias “James Dez,” prosecutors mentioned. After a grand jury indicted him in 2022, Dezfooli “continued laundering money, including selling property purchased with the illegally obtained PPP funds,” prosecutors mentioned.
“The consequences of the defendant’s PPP loan fraud scheme have caught up with him and now he will be incarcerated for exploiting more than $11.2 million from a taxpayer-funded program,” Performing U.S. Legal professional Sigal Chattah mentioned in an announcement. “Thanks to the diligent work of our law enforcement partners, the defendant is being held accountable for defrauding the government.”
A sponsored article from a financial institution on a monetary journal’s web site known as Dezfooli “the dreamer” in 2019, saying he “built a thriving flooring business out of the ashes of the recession in the late 2000s.”
Anybody with allegations of COVID-relief fraud can contact the Justice Division’s Nationwide Middle for Catastrophe Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or on-line at www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.
