Profiles · Fraud defendants
- Type
- Person
- Role
- Defendant
- Updated
The profile
A Houston man sentenced in February 2024 to 21 months in prison for his part in the Amir Aqeel PPP ring, with $483,333 in restitution owed jointly with Aqeel and Syed Ali.
Identity and role
Muhammad Anis, 55 at sentencing, of Houston, 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, with Ammas Uddin, Arham Uddin, Harjeet Singh and Nishant Patel. The case against Amir Aqeel had been indicted in November 2020.
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, backed by fake bank records and federal tax forms. Part of the proceeds went out as checks to fake employees. According to its February 2024 release, Anis and the men sentenced with him supplied information about their businesses so that false loan applications could be filed.
The court made his $483,333 restitution joint and several with Aqeel and Syed Ali. The December 2021 superseding indictment says Ali recruited people into the scheme in exchange for kickbacks.
Legal status / controversies
- Charged: criminal information (one count), September 12, 2023; released on a $25,000 unsecured bond at his initial appearance on October 2, 2023.
- Pleaded guilty: to the information's single count before U.S. District Judge Andrew S. Hanen, under a plea agreement filed October 2, 2023 (Doc. 597); money judgment entered the same day (Doc. 599).
- Sentenced: February 12, 2024, to 21 months in prison, three years of supervised release and $483,333 in restitution to the SBA (judgment entered February 27, 2024, Doc. 808).
Where they are now (2025–2026)
The court allowed him to report to the Bureau of Prisons on his own. We found no public record of him after the February 2024 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
- Superseding indictment, United States v. Aqeel, No. 4:20-cr-00583 (S.D. Tex.), Doc. 136 (Dec. 9, 2021)
- 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
- Related profile: Syed Ali