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Meelad Dezfooli Convicted of $11.2M COVID-19 Fraud, Henderson NV, 2023
A federal jury convicted a Nevada man today for defrauding three banks of more than $11.2 million in COVID-19 pandemic relief funds intended to help small businesses impacted by the pandemic.
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Meelad Dezfooli, 30, of Henderson, engaged in a scheme to submit fraudulent loan applications under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), a program that provided loans to help small businesses continue paying employee salaries and certain other basic business expenses during the pandemic.
The evidence at trial showed that Dezfooli falsely represented certain material information in his loan applications, including information about payroll, employees, and use of the loan proceeds. After fraudulently obtaining more than $11.2 million in PPP funds, Dezfooli laundered and/or spent the proceeds by, among other things: buying approximately 25 residences and two luxury cars, funding a personal investment account, and gambling extensively.
After he was originally charged, Dezfooli continued laundering criminal proceeds by selling five of the residences that he acquired with the fraudulently obtained PPP funds.
The jury convicted Dezfooli of three counts of bank fraud, three counts of money laundering, and four counts of engaging in monetary transactions in criminally derived property. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 5 and faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison on each of the bank fraud counts, 20 years in prison on each of the money laundering counts, and 10 years in prison on each of the counts of engaging in monetary transactions in criminally derived property.
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Jason M. Frierson for the District of Nevada; Special Agent in Charge Carissa Messick of the IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Phoenix Field Office; Special Agent in Charge Jon Ellwanger of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Office of Inspector General (FRB-CFPB OIG), Western Region; Special Agent in Charge Weston King of the Small Business Association Office of Inspector General (SBA-OIG), Western Region; and Special Agent in Charge Ryan Korner of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Office of Inspector General (FDIC-OIG), San Francisco Region made the announcement.
The IRS-CI, FRB-OIG, FDIC-OIG, and SBA-OIG investigated the case.
Key Facts
- State: Nevada
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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