Besim Kukaj, Bank Fraud Conspiracy & Interstate Threats, New York 2020

Besim Kukaj, a 42-year-old New Jersey resident, has pleaded guilty to bank fraud conspiracy and interstate threats in a Manhattan federal court. The restaurateur, who owned several restaurants in New York, conspired with others to secure more than $3.5 million in government-backed loans intended for businesses devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the allegations, Kukaj submitted applications for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans to multiple banks on behalf of various restaurants he owned or a relative of his owned. He did so on behalf of restaurants that were no longer operating or that had far fewer employees than were listed on the PPP loans. In total, Kukaj and his co-conspirators applied for dozens of PPP loans, totaling approximately $3.9 million, from numerous financial institutions, using many different corporate entities.

Kukaj successfully received at least $1.5 million in PPP loans. He was arrested in October 2020 and charged with bank fraud conspiracy and later indicted for the same charges in December 2020. Kukaj was released on pretrial release pursuant to an order that notified him of the potential effect of committing a criminal offense while on pretrial release.

Even after his arrest, Kukaj continued to submit false loan applications. In January 2021, he filed another false loan application for one of the same restaurants he had previously filed a false application for in July 2020. The same month, Kukaj also requested PPP loans for six businesses he owned and submitted false documentation about each of the six businesses.

Kukaj, at the urging of his co-conspirator, also placed a telephone call, which traveled in interstate commerce, to a victim, during which call the co-conspirator threatened physical violence against the victim. Kukaj instructed his co-conspirator to place this call because Kukaj owed money to the victim.

Kukaj pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison, and one count of making interstate threats, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. Under the terms of his plea agreement, Kukaj also agreed to pay forfeiture in the amount of $1,500,000.

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