Man Arrested Over $5 Million in COVID-19 Relief Spent on Cars: DOJ

Summary

A Business Insider article by Kelsey Viamis, dated May 8, 2021, reports that a man from Irvine, California, was arrested on Friday over charges that include illegally obtaining $5 million in COVID-19 relief and spending it on sports cars, according to the Department of Justice. It says Mustafa Qadiri is accused of fraudulently receiving money through the Paycheck Protection Program by applying for the loans under the guise of "sham businesses." His charges include bank fraud, wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and money laundering. According to the indictment, Qadiri applied for the PPP loans in May and June of 2020 and submitted falsified documents to three different banks.

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“Man Arrested Over $5 Million in COVID-19 Relief Spent on Cars: DOJ.” Original at docs.house.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/hhrg-117-go24-20220331-sd015-e617dcdabf4d-1b1204b293/, SHA-256 e617dcdabf4d9cd947f03358fae02b70aeb16ca8b55c343621cfc495b25e936e.

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A man was arrested after allegedly spending $5 million in stolen COVID-19 relief on Ferrari,
Bentley, and Lamborghini sports cars

Kelsey Viamis May 8, 2021, 1:30 AM

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A black Lamborghini, one of the cars federal agents seized from the suspect. US Attorney's Office for the Central District of California, Twitter

A man was arrested Friday on charges related to fraudulently obtaining and spending $5 million in PPP loans.

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A man from Irvine, California, was arrested on Friday over charges that include illegally obtaining $5 million in COVID-19 relief
and spending it on sports cars, according to the Department of Justice.

Mustafa Qadiri, 38, is accused of fraudulently receiving money through the Paycheck Protection Program by applying for the loan
under the guise of "sham businesses." His charges include bank fraud, wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and money
laundering.

According to the indictment, Qadiri applied for the PPP loans in May and June of 2020. He submitted falsified documents to three
different banks, claiming to operate four businesses in Orange County, none of which are currently in operation. He provided the

banks with false employee records, tampered bank account balances, and fake tax returns.

Read more: Fraudulent unemployment claims have cost the US tens of billions of dollars since the pandemic began. Congress and the
Biden administration need to crack down on this abuse.

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For one of the loans, the Justice Department said he used another person's name and social security number.

His loan applications were approved and the banks transferred about $5 million into his accounts, the indictment said.

The Justice Department said he allegedly used the "fraudulently obtained" loans "for his own personal benefit, including for
expenses prohibited under the requirements of the PPP program, such as the purchase of luxury vehicles, lavish vacations, and the

payment of his personal expenses."

Ferrari, Bentley, and Lamborghini sports cars that Qadiri allegedly bought with the loans were seized by federal agents.

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PPP loans were implemented as a coronavirus relief measure and were intended to encourage small businesses to keep their
employees on payroll during the economic fallout of the pandemic. The loans did not have to be paid back as long as they met

certain spending criteria.
"Businesses must use PPP loan proceeds for payroll costs, interest on mortgages, rent, and utilities," the Justice Department said.
Charges have been brought against multiple people related to fraudulently obtaining PPP loans.

In asimilar case, the Justice Department said Friday a man from Connecticut was arrested over charges that allege he fraudulently

obtained $2.9 million in PPP loans and spent them on expensive cars, including to pay off a Porsche Panamera Turbo and to
purchase both a Mercedes and BMW.

"Congress authorized the Paycheck Protection Program to help small businesses and their employees withstand a devastating
pandemic, not so individual recipients can illegally reap a financial windfall," Acting U.S. Attorney Leonard C Boyle said.

Have a news tip? Contact this reporter at kvlamis@insider.com.

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