Profiles · Fraud defendants
- Type
- Person
- Role
- Defendant
- Updated
The profile
Sentenced in January 2024 to five years of probation and $486,083 owed to the SBA: the one non-prison sentence among the nine Amir Aqeel PPP ring defendants sentenced in January and February 2024.
Identity and role
Harjeet Singh, 50 at sentencing, of Katy, Texas, was charged in United States v. Aqeel, No. 4:20-cr-00583 (S.D. Tex.), by a one-count criminal information filed September 12, 2023. The court's docket spells the name "Harjeet Singh"; the Justice Department's February 2024 release spells it "Harjeet Sing." He was one of five men charged that day, with Ammas Uddin, Arham Uddin, Muhammad Anis and Nishant Patel, nearly three years after Amir Aqeel was indicted.
The scheme and pandemic-relief role
The Justice Department says the Aqeel ring obtained more than $20 million in forgivable PPP loans in 2020 by overstating employee counts and average monthly payroll, supported by fake bank records and federal tax forms. Part of the money was laundered through checks to fake employees, cashed at check-cashing businesses. It describes Singh as one of three men who "previously pleaded guilty" and were sentenced in January 2024. The public record does not say which loan or business was his.
Legal status / controversies
- Charged: criminal information (one count), September 12, 2023; released on a personal recognizance bond at his initial appearance on October 2, 2023.
- Pleaded guilty: October 2, 2023, before U.S. District Judge Andrew S. Hanen, under a plea agreement.
- Sentenced: January 4, 2024, to five years of probation and $486,083 payable to the SBA (judgment entered January 9, 2024, Doc. 755). The two men sentenced with him that day, Raheel Malik and Nishant Patel, received 18 and 24 months in prison.
Where they are now (2025–2026)
His five-year probation term was set to run until January 2029. We found no other public record of him after the judgment.
Sources
- U.S. Attorney's Office, S.D. Tex., "Six sentenced for roles in $20M COVID-19 relief fraud ring" (Feb. 12, 2024) — original: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdtx/pr/six-sentenced-roles-20m-covid-19-relief-fraud-ring
- FDIC OIG, "Six Men Sentenced for Roles in $20M COVID-19 Relief Fraud Ring" (Feb. 12, 2024) — original: https://fdicoig.gov/news/investigations-press-releases/six-men-sentenced-roles-20m-covid-19-relief-fraud-ring local copy
- Docket entries, United States v. Aqeel, No. 4:20-cr-00583 (S.D. Tex.), Sept. 12, 2023 to Sept. 24, 2023 — original: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/18643734/united-states-v-aqeel/?filed_after=09%2F12%2F2023&filed_before=09%2F24%2F2023
- Docket entries, United States v. Aqeel, No. 4:20-cr-00583 (S.D. Tex.), Sept. 25, 2023 to Oct. 3, 2023 — original: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/18643734/united-states-v-aqeel/?filed_after=09%2F25%2F2023&filed_before=10%2F03%2F2023
- Docket entries, United States v. Aqeel, No. 4:20-cr-00583 (S.D. Tex.), Jan. 4, 2024 to Feb. 27, 2024 — original: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/18643734/united-states-v-aqeel/?filed_after=01%2F04%2F2024&filed_before=02%2F27%2F2024
- Related profile: Amir Aqeel