United States v. Baltej Singh Brar — Statement of Facts
- Date
- 2024-12-05
Summary
A Statement of Facts filed December 5, 2024 in United States v. Baltej Singh Brar, Case 3:24-cr-00148-JAG, Document 18, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Richmond Division. In it the United States and the defendant stipulate to facts supporting a plea agreement. The statement describes the Paycheck Protection Program and states that the defendant, an IRS registered tax preparer who operated ASPIRE TAX & ACCOUNTING SERVICES INC., filed PPP loan applications for clients, that the SBA funded 163 loans from those applications, and that he inflated incomes to the $20,833 maximum and submitted fabricated Schedule C forms, causing at least $550,000 in actual losses. It details one April 22, 2021 application as the basis of a false statement charge. It is signed by Assistant United States Attorney Avi Panth, the defendant and defense counsel Edward Ungvarsky.
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Case 3:24-cr-00148-JAG Document 18 Filed 12/05/24 Page 1 of 8 PageID# 51
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF VIRGINIA
Richmond Division
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
V. CaseNo.3:24-cr-148-JAG
BALTEJ SINGH BRAR,
Defendant.
STATEMENT OF FACTS
The United States and the defendant, BALTEJ SINGH BRAR (hereinafter, “the
defendant”), stipulate that the following facts are true and correct, and that had this matter gone
to trial, the United States would have proven each of them beyond a reasonable doubt.
Background
1. The United States Small Business Administration (“SBA”) was an executive-
branch agency of the United States government that provided support to entrepreneurs and small
businesses.
2. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act was a federal
law enacted in or around March 2020 designed to provide emergency financial assistance to the
millions of Americans suffering from the economic effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
One source of relief provided by the CARES Act was the authorization of billions of dollars in'
forgivable loans to small businesses for job retention and certain other expenses through a program
referred to as the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”). These PPP loans were backed by the
SBA, and the administration of the PPP was accordingly a matter within the jurisdiction of the
executive branch of the United States Government.
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3. To obtain a PPP loan, a qualifying business had to submit a PPP loan application
signed by an authorized representative of the business. In order to obtain a PPP loan, the applicant
was required to acknowledge the program rules, make certain certifications to the SBA, and
provide certain supporting documentation as part of the loan application.
4. A PPP loan application had to be processed by a participating financial lender or
payment processor. If the PPP loan application was approved, the lender or payment processor
funded the PPP loan using its own monies, and such loans were guaranteed by the SBA.
5. Sole proprietors were, in some cases, eligible to receive PPP loans based on their
2019 tax year incomes, with higher 2019 tax year gross incomes resulting in higher PPP loan
amounts. The maximum allowable loan amount for a sole proprietor was $20,833. The amount of
a PPP loan applicant’s income, accordingly, was material to the SBA’s administration of the PPP
loan program.
6. From at least March 26, 2012, and continuing through the date of the Criminal
Information, BALTEJ SINGH BRAR (“BRAR”), a South Richmond Hill, New York resident,
owned and operated ASPIRE TAX & ACCOUNTING SERVICES INC. (“ASPIRE TAX”).
Organized under the laws of New York, ASPIRE TAX was a tax preparation, accounting, and
consulting firm. At all times relevant to the Criminal Information, BRAR was an Internal Revenue
Service (“IRS”) registered tax preparer.
BRA R *s Fraudulent PPP Submittals
7. In 2021, BRAR began filing PPP loan applications on behalf of other individuals.
BRAR advertised, including on the TikTok social media platform, that he would file PPP loan
applications on behalf of clients for compensation: A flat up-front fee paired with 10% of the loan
value after the loan was approved. To effectuate the PPP filing, BRAR told prospective PPP
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Case 3:24-cr-00148-JAG Document 18 Filed 12/05/24 Page 3 of 8 PageID# 53
applicants to provide him with their Social Security number, a copy of their driver’s license, email
address, prior bank statements, 2019 year tax return, and a void check - all to be used as supporting
documentation on the PPP application.
8. Thereafter, BRAR submitted PPP loan applications on behalf of each applicant. For
each application, BRAR marked in the affirmative to the following certification:
“[T]he information provided in this application and the information provided in
all supporting documents and forms is true and accurate in all material respects. 1
understand that knowingly making false statements to obtain a guaranteed loan
from SBA is punishable under the law, including under 18 U.S.C. 1001
9. The vast majority of BRAR’s clients were sole proprietors (including taxi drivers.
truck drivers, and construction workers). Of the loan applications submitted by BRAR, the Small
Business Administration funded 163 loans with disbursed funds from the federal government.
10. Where BRAR’s clients’ prior year incomes fell below the threshold necessary to
receive the maximum PPP loan amount of $20,833, BRAR knowingly and deliberately falsely
inflated the applicants’ prior year incomes in the PPP applications to reach a monetary threshold
that would trigger this $20,833 maximum loan amount.
11. To effectuate the scheme, BRAR generated false and fabricated Internal Revenue
Service (IRS) Form 1040 Schedule C documents on behalf of the applicants and submitted these
forged forms as supporting documentation to the PPP applications. Such false and fabricated IRS
Form Schedule Cs were never submitted by the PPP applicant to the IRS as part of tax filings;
rather, they were only used by BRAR as false supporting documentation on PPP loan applications.
12. Each of BRAR’s submittals of a PPP application caused an electronic wiring from
the PPP loan processor servers in New York to the Small Business Administration servers in the
Eastern District of Virginia.
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13. Many of the applicants for whom BRAR filed PPP applications were entitled to
receive PPP loans, though not in the falsely inflated amounts reflected on the PPP loan applications
that BRAR prepared. Other applicants for whom BRAR filed PPP applications were not entitled
to receive PPP loans at all based on the available supporting documentation. Across the hundreds
of PPP loan applications that BRAR falsified, BRAR caused at least $550,000 in actual losses to
the Small Business Administration
False Statement
14. On or about March 22,2021, C.A. sought BRAR’s assistance with filing a PPP loan
application. BRAR instructed C.A. via WhatsApp message to come to BRAR’s office with
supporting documentation, including C.A.’s 2019 tax return. In the same conversation, BRAR
stated that he would charge “200 upfront and 10% after [the PPP loan is] approved.
15. On or about March 22, 2021, C.A. paid BRAR $200, the agreed upon up-front
payment price, via the Zelle payment application. C.A. thereafter provided the requested
supporting documentation, including C.A.’s legitimate 2019 IRS Form 1040 Schedule C. This
legitimate Schedule C reflected $16,075 in gross income generated from C.A.’s job as a taxi
operator.
16. On or about April 22, 2021, BRAR submitted a PPP loan application in the name
of C.A. BRAR marked in the affirmative to the following certification on the PPP loan application:
“[T]he information provided in this application and the information provided in
all supporting documents and forms is true and accurate in all material respects. I
understand that knowingly making false statements to obtain a guaranteed loan
from SBA is punishable under the law, including under 18 U.S.C. 1001.”
17. As part of this PPP submittal, BRAR prepared a falsified 2019 IRS Form 1040
Schedule C, purporting to show C.A. received $115,298 in gross income as a taxi operator—a
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Case 3:24-cr-00148-JAG Document 18 Filed 12/05/24 Page 5 of 8 PageID# 55
figure that would entitle C.A. to receive the largest PPP loan amount possible and far in excess of
the PPP loan amount that C.A.’s actual gross income would be entitled to. BRAR then submitted
this falsified IRS Form 1040 Schedule C as part of C.A.’s PPP application.
Statutory Allegations
18. On or about April 22, 2021, in the Eastern District of Virginia and elsewhere,
BALTEJ SINGH BRAR, the defendant, in a matter within the jurisdiction of the executive branch
of the Government of the United States, knowingly and willfully made a materially false, fictitious,
and fraudulent statement and representation and made and used a false writing and document
knowing the same to contain a materially false, fictitious, and fraudulent statement and entry, to
wit, BRAR made false statements to the Small Business Administration on a Paycheck Protection
Program loan application in the name of C.A. by inflating C.A.’s 2019 tax year gross income and
by submitting a fictitious 2019 Internal Revenue Service Form 1040 Schedule C as supporting
documentation for C.A.’s PPP loan application, all for the purpose of obtaining $20,833 in
Government-guaranteed loans through the PPP.
* * *
19. This statement of facts includes those facts necessary to support the plea agreement
between the defendant and the United States. It does not include each and every fact known to the
defendant or to the United States, and it is not intended to be a full enumeration of all of the facts
surrounding the defendant’s case.
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Case 3:24-cr-00148-JAG Document 18 Filed 12/05/24 Page 6 of 8 PageID# 56
20. The actions of the defendant, as recounted above, were in all respects knowing and
deliberate, and were not committed by mistake, accident, or other innocent reason.
Respectfully submitted,
JESSICA D. ABER
UNITED STATES ATTORNEY
By:
Avi Panth \2/^fToZ<^
Assistant United States Attorney
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Case 3:24-cr-00148-JAG Document 18 Filed 12/05/24 Page 7 of 8 PageID# 57
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I have consulted with my attorney regarding this Statement of Facts. I knowingly and
voluntarily agree that each of the above-recited facts is true and correct and that had this matter
gone to trial the United States could have proven each one beyond a reasonable doubt.
9/s
Date balteJstSShbrar
Defendant
I am counsel for defendant, BALTEJ SINGH BRAR. I have carefully reviewed this
Statement of Facts with him and, to my knowledge, his decision to agree to this Statement of Facts
is an informed and voluntary decision.
Dat( Edward Ungvarsky, Esq.
Counsel
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