Lebnitz Tran, PPP Loan Scheme, California 2025

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Table of Contents

California Man Arrested for $3.6 Million PPP Loan Scheme

SAN JOSE, CA – Lebnitz Tran, a 40-year-old man from San Jose, California, was arrested today on charges related to his alleged scheme to submit false loan applications seeking millions of dollars in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) COVID-19 relief funds.

According to an indictment returned last week by a federal grand jury in San Francisco and unsealed today, Tran submitted at least 27 PPP loan applications and at least seven EIDL loan applications on behalf of multiple persons and business entities, using false and fictitious information and documents, including falsified employee information, fictitious or grossly exaggerated payroll figures, and fake tax documents.

The indictment alleges that Tran sought in excess of $8 million in PPP and EIDL funds, obtained over $3.6 million in illicit loan proceeds, and ultimately netted approximately $2 million from the scheme. The indictment further alleges that Tran and others used these illicit loan proceeds to make purchases at restaurants and retail stores, make deposits into personal investment accounts, buy cryptocurrency, and, in one instance, to purchase a $100,000 Tesla from a luxury car dealership.

An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Tran is charged with six counts of wire fraud and three counts of bank fraud. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison as to each count of bank fraud, and 20 years in prison as to each count of wire fraud.

The case is being investigated by the FBI and the Small Business Administration’s Office of Inspector General, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Griswold and Trial Attorney Christopher Jackson prosecuting the case.

The COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force, established by the Attorney General in May 2021, is also involved in the investigation.

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.