United States v. Moustapha Diakhate

Case summary

Moustapha Diakhate, 46, of Stamford, Connecticut, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea in Hartford to 42 months in prison, three years of supervised release, three months of home detention upon release, and 75 hours of community service.¹ He was first arrested, at 45, on a federal criminal complaint charging him with bank fraud and wire fraud tied to his receipt of nearly $2.9 million in COVID-19 relief funds guaranteed by the Small Business Administration. He appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge S. Dave Vatti in Bridgeport and was ordered detained.²

As alleged in the complaint, Diakhate held ownership or management interests in five entities: Diakhate Capital, Inc., Ansonia Developers LLC, Winsbay Inc., Buyers Association Group LLC, and Washington Management LLC. Beginning in May 2020, the complaint alleges, he gave Citibank false and fraudulent information during the PPP application process to obtain loans for each, totaling $2,897,100. He used a portion of the proceeds to pay off a loan he had taken out to buy a 2010 Porsche Panamera Turbo, and to purchase a Mercedes and a BMW. He also bought a $50,000 certificate of deposit with PPP funds and disbursed money to individuals unrelated to any of his businesses.²

Diakhate later waived indictment and pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea to one count of wire fraud and one count of making an illegal monetary transaction. The plea announcement added a sixth entity, Poulson & Gold Inc., and a second lender, M&T Bank, and put the total at more than $4 million.³

Citibank and M&T Bank recovered more than $2 million after discovering the fraud, and Diakhate was ordered to pay restitution of $1,702,479. The case was investigated by the SBA Office of Inspector General, the FBI's New Haven Division, and IRS Criminal Investigation, and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher W. Schmeisser.¹

Notes

1. U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Connecticut, "Stamford Man Sentenced to Prison for Fraudulently Obtaining More Than $4 Million in COVID-19 Relief Funds" (original), August 16, 2022. ↩₁ ↩₂
2. U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Connecticut, "Stamford Man Charged with Fraudulently Obtaining Nearly $2.9 Million in COVID-19 Relief Funds" (original), May 7, 2021. ↩₁ ↩₂
3. U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Connecticut, "Stamford Man Who Fraudulently Obtained More Than $4 Million in Covid-19 Relief Funds Pleads Guilty" (original), January 26, 2022. ↩

Summary written from the documents on this page; every sentence is sourced.