Profiles · Fraud defendants
- Type
- Person
- Role
- Defendant
- Programs
- EIDL
- Updated
The profile
The longest sentence among four Milwaukee-area men convicted at trial of chasing more than $9.5 million in EIDL and PPP loans: 150 months in prison, imposed in February 2024.
Identity and role
Divine-Seven El was one of four men indicted on August 23, 2022, in United States v. Bey, No. 2:22-cr-00169 (E.D. Wis.), with Aziz Hassan Bey, Letez Osiris Bey and Minister Zakar Ali. All four represented themselves at trial.
The scheme and pandemic-relief role
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, from June 2020 to July 2021 the four men filed multiple EIDL and PPP applications for businesses that were not operating, with false employee counts, revenues and cost of goods sold, trying for more than $9.5 million in loans. The SBA paid out about $775,000 in EIDL money. The presentence reports, as the Seventh Circuit later summarized them, put the intended loss from the COVID-relief scheme at $9,904,640.
El's share of the record, per the office's releases:
- He was convicted of money laundering for using fraud proceeds to buy a Porsche and to write himself a $60,000 check. Aziz Hassan Bey wrote him a $43,000 check from fraud proceeds.
- He took part, with Aziz Hassan Bey and Ali, in a scheme that sent false information to the Wisconsin Department of Motor Vehicles to remove lenders' liens on vehicles, including a Land Rover, a BMW and a Corvette. The office put that loss at more than $480,000.
Legal status / controversies
- Indicted: August 23, 2022: conspiracy to commit wire fraud (18 U.S.C. § 1349), wire fraud, mail fraud and money laundering (§ 1957).
- Convicted: by a jury on October 17, 2023, after a week-long trial, on Counts 1, 2, 6, 12, 16 and 18.
- Sentenced: February 1, 2024, by U.S. District Judge J. P. Stadtmueller, to 150 months in prison and three years of supervised release. The office said the four men's restitution orders ranged from $1.6 million to more than $2.2 million; it did not give each man's figure.
- Appeal: He appealed (No. 24-1408). The Seventh Circuit severed his appeal from those of Aziz Hassan Bey and Ali after his lawyer moved to withdraw, and affirmed their convictions and sentences on July 17, 2026.
Where they are now (2025–2026)
We found no ruling in El's own appeal.
Sources
- U.S. Attorney's Office, E.D. Wis., "Four Men Convicted of Conspiracy and Schemes to Defraud the Small Business Administration, State Workforce Agencies, and Private Lenders" (Oct. 18, 2023) — original: Eastern District of Wisconsin (original: justice.gov)
- U.S. Attorney's Office, E.D. Wis., "Four Men Sentenced to up to 150 Months' Imprisonment for Conspiracy and Multiple Schemes to Defraud" (Feb. 5, 2024), as published by Urban Milwaukee — original: https://urbanmilwaukee.com/pressrelease/four-men-sentenced-to-up-to-150-months-imprisonment-for-conspiracy-and-multiple-schemes-to-defraud/
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, order in United States v. Aziz Hassan Bey and Minister Zakar Ali, Nos. 24-1166, 24-1167 & 24-1284 (July 17, 2026) — original: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCOURTS-ca7-24-01166/pdf/USCOURTS-ca7-24-01166-0.pdf
- Docket entries, United States v. Bey, No. 2:22-cr-00169 (E.D. Wis.), Oct. 17, 2023 to Oct. 18, 2023 — original: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/64929273/united-states-v-bey/?filed_after=10%2F17%2F2023&filed_before=10%2F18%2F2023
- Docket, United States v. Divine-Seven El, No. 24-1408 (7th Cir.) — original: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/68913363/united-states-v-divine-seven-el/
- Related profile: Aziz Hassan Bey
- Related profile: Minister Zakar Ali