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Minister Zakar Ali

Executive

PPP · EIDL · Unemployment insurance
Type
Person
Role
Executive
Programs
PPP, EIDL, Unemployment insurance
Updated

The profile

One of four men a federal jury in the Eastern District of Wisconsin convicted in October 2023 of schemes against the SBA, state unemployment agencies and private lenders; prosecutors said the group tried to obtain more than $9.5 million in EIDL and PPP loans.

Identity and role

Minister Zakar Ali was indicted on August 23, 2022, in the Eastern District of Wisconsin with Aziz Hassan Bey, Letez Osiris Bey and Divine-Seven El. A jury convicted all four on October 17, 2023, after a week-long trial.

The scheme and pandemic-relief role

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, the trial evidence showed that between June 2020 and July 2021 the four men conspired to obtain more than $9.5 million in loans from the SBA and private lenders through the EIDL program and the PPP. Each filed multiple fraudulent EIDL and PPP applications for businesses that were not operating, with false figures for employees, gross revenues and cost of goods sold. The SBA paid out approximately $775,000 in EIDL proceeds to which the defendants were not entitled, the release says.

The same trial covered two other schemes. The evidence showed that Ali, Aziz Bey and Letez Bey filed false unemployment insurance claims in Georgia, where Ali and Aziz Bey had not lived or worked; Ali received approximately $43,525. Letez Bey filed claims in Illinois and California in other people's names and had the benefit debit cards mailed to addresses used by Aziz Bey and Ali. Ali, Aziz Bey and El were also convicted of defrauding lenders by giving the Wisconsin Department of Motor Vehicles false information to remove liens on vehicles, among them a Land Rover, a BMW and a Corvette, which they then kept or sold without repaying the loans.

The release says the defendants moved fraud proceeds among themselves and spent them on vehicles and jewelry. The money laundering convictions it describes belong to Aziz Bey and El.

  • Charged: August 23, 2022, by indictment in the Eastern District of Wisconsin, with conspiracy to commit wire fraud (18 U.S.C. § 1349), wire fraud (§ 1343) and mail fraud (§ 1341). The money laundering charge (§ 1957) named only Aziz Bey and El.
  • Convicted: October 17, 2023, by a jury, after a week-long trial.
  • Sentencing: set for February 1, 2024, before U.S. District Judge J.P. Stadtmueller. The release lists maximums of 20 years in prison on the conspiracy, mail fraud and wire fraud convictions and five years of supervised release. Our copies of the Justice Department's releases do not include his sentence.

Where they are now (2025–2026)

Public record on Minister Zakar Ali after the October 2023 verdict is limited; this profile reflects the U.S. Attorney's Office release of October 18, 2023, as of September 25, 2026.

Sources

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