International

14 Individuals, primarily of Indian-Origin, charged in alleged $53M US Covid Relief Fraud

• By IANS , New York
• Jul 07, 2023
• 233

Fourteen individuals, primarily of Indian origin, have been accused of defrauding a Covid relief program in the United States, resulting in a total of over $53 million in fraudulent loan proceeds from various financial institutions.

The arrests of these defendants took place in Texas, California, and Oklahoma, marking one of the largest investigations conducted by the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC) Fraud Task Force thus far.

Leigha Simonton, the US Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, expressed that the defendants conspired to embezzle substantial amounts of money from the Paycheck Protection Program, funds that could have assisted legitimate businesses in meeting their financial obligations and retaining their employees.

The Paycheck Protection Program was implemented to provide forgivable loans to small businesses, aiding them in covering expenses such as payroll and rent. However, the program concluded in May 2021.

Detailed indictments made public on June 28 reveal that several of the charged individuals allegedly operated a network of affiliated recycling companies. They reportedly submitted at least 29 fraudulent loan applications to the Paycheck Protection Program, inflating payroll expenses by manipulating bank statements and tax forms issued by the Internal Revenue Service to fabricate business income.

By routing the loan funds through multiple bank accounts, they aimed to create a false paper trail of payroll expenses. Additionally, at least two of the defendants allegedly submitted false loan applications to financial institutions on behalf of their recycling companies, fraudulently obtaining millions of dollars in business loan proceeds.

Bhavesh, also known as Bobby Patel, who held the position of Chief Business Development Officer for Sunshine Recycling, is accused of providing false information to the Federal Deposit Insurance Commission (FDIC) by denying knowledge of several alleged co-conspirators.

Among those named in the sixteen-count indictment filed last week are Mihir Patel, Chief Financial Officer of Sunshine Recycling, charged with conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud and aiding and abetting, and conspiracy to commit money laundering; Kinjal Patel, Controller at Sunshine Recycling, accused of bank fraud, bank fraud and aiding and abetting, and conspiracy to commit money laundering;

Prateek Desai, owner of West Texas Scrap; Chirag Gandhi, also known as Chris Gandhi, president and owner of 5G Metals and Sunshine Recycling, charged with bank fraud and bank fraud and aiding and abetting. Dharmesh Patel, also known as Danny Patel, Co-President and co-owner of Elephant Recycling, accused of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and bank fraud and aiding and abetting; and Bhargav Bhatt, also known as Brad Bhatt, an employee of NTC Industries, charged with conspiracy to commit bank fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

In separate indictments, Mrunal Desai, Chintak Desai, Ambreen Khan, and Usha Sharma face charges of bank and wire fraud, as well as aiding and abetting.

If convicted, the defendants could face up to 30 years in federal prison for each count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud and aiding and abetting, bank fraud, and making false statements to the FDIC.

They may also face up to 20 years for wire fraud and 10 years for conspiracy to commit money laundering. (Edited)