The coronavirus pandemic had a huge impact on the world economy which is still struggling to revive from the deep incurred loss caused by the virus outbreak. However, when the whole world had been fighting to make ends meet and survive the situation, a few saw an opportunity to make millions by robbing their own people. Two Indian origin men have been found guilty of defrauding millions from a COVID fund.
The perpetrators of the crime, Nishant Patel and Harjeet Singh have been found guilty of submitting fraudulent papers to obtain and then launder millions of dollars. The government of the USA offered an economic assistance plan to prevent businesses from failing and gave forgivable Paycheck Protection Programme(PPP) loans.
These loans were provided by the Small Business Administration (SBA) under the CARES Act. The defendants pleaded guilty of submitting false loan applications and supplying blank checks to fake employees. A total of 5 people have pleaded guilty for the fraud. All of them are facing a maximum penalty of five years. The sentencing will take place on the 4th of January, 2024.
The total amount of money defrauded is believed to be in excess of two and a half million dollars. Nishant Patel obtained a total of $474,993 while Harjeet Singh obtained $937,379. The other three conspirators also siphoned off a total of $1.4 million.
