Muge Ma, $20 Million Covid-19 Pandemic Loan Fraud, New York 2020

A Chinese national was sentenced to 52 months in prison for a $20 million COVID-19 pandemic loan fraud scheme. Muge Ma, a/k/a 'Hummer Mars,' was arrested on May 21, 2020, and has been detained since his arrest.

Ma pleaded guilty to bank fraud and aggravated identity theft in connection with a scheme to obtain over $20 million in government-guaranteed loans designed to provide relief to small businesses during the pandemic. The loans were applied for through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) Program.

Ma falsely represented to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and six financial institutions that his companies, New York International Capital LLC (NYIC) and Hurley Human Resources LLC (Hurley), had hundreds of employees and paid millions of dollars in wages to those employees. In fact, Ma appears to have been the only employee of NYIC since at least 2019, and Hurley does not appear to have any employees.

Ma submitted fraudulent and doctored bank records, tax records, insurance records, payroll records, and/or audited financial statements to six different banks to support the false representations made in the loan applications. He also provided links to the Ma Companies' websites, which describe the companies' operations and employees.

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act authorized hundreds of billions of dollars in forgivable loans to small businesses for job retention and certain other expenses through the SBA's PPP. The CARES Act also expanded the EIDL Program, which provided small businesses with low-interest loans of up to $2 million.

Ma was sentenced to 52 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman. The sentence was handed down after Ma pleaded guilty to bank fraud and aggravated identity theft.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/chinese-national-sentenced-52-months-20-million-covid-19-pandemic-loan-fraud-scheme