PORTLAND, Ore. – A former Oregon dentist has been sentenced to federal prison for attempting to steal more than $170 million in Covid-relief funds and illegally distributing thousands of doses of prescription drugs.
Salwan Wesam Adjaj, 44, of West Linn, Oregon, was sentenced to 70 months in federal prison and three years’ supervised release. He was also ordered to pay more than $10.5 million in restitution to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and multiple private lenders.
“Salwan Adjaj’s crimes showed both his indifference to those enduring the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and his disregard for the health and safety of those to whom he unlawfully dispensed prescription drugs. We appreciate all the investigative agencies that worked diligently to uncover Adjaj’s crimes and build the two criminal cases that brought him to justice,” said Natalie Wight, U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon.
“Our investigative efforts will expose criminal activity that spans SBA’s programs,” said Weston King, Western Region Special Agent in Charge of the SBA Office of Inspector General (SBA OIG). “This sentence demonstrates that those who defraud the nation’s vital economic programs will be held accountable. I want to thank the U.S. Department of Justice and our law enforcement partners for their dedication and pursuit of justice.”
“Salwan Adjaj executed an elaborate ruse to take advantage of federal emergency assistance in a time when so many businesses were struggling to stay afloat. Even after several fraudulent loan applications were denied, Adjaj’s greed grew. He made up businesses, lied about employees and in the end stole more than $11 million of Covid relief funds,” said Kieran L. Ramsey, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Portland Field Office. “The FBI and our partners will continue to find those who commit pandemic-related fraud and hold them accountable for their crimes.”
According to court documents, beginning no later than September 2020 and continuing until at least May 2021, Adjaj submitted dozens of fraudulent loan applications to SBA in an attempt to obtain Economic Impact Disaster Loan (EIDL) and Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funds. The EIDL and PPP programs were among several economic relief programs originally authorized by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES). They enabled SBA to issue low-interest loans to small businesses adversely impacted by the pandemic and associated mitigation measures.
Adjaj used the names and employer identification numbers (EIN) of fictitious business entities on his fraudulent applications. He further provided false information about the business start dates, number of employees, and locations, and the identities of the purported applicants and business owners. Most of the fraudulent applications were submitted in other peoples’ names, but with Adjaj’s personal residence as the business mailing address. In the spring of 2021, Adjaj purchased a collection of stolen identities online and began using the personally identifiable information acquired to register dozens of straw companies and obtain additional EIN.
After SBA rejected most of Adjaj’s initial EIDL applications, he began focusing primarily on the PPP program as well as on the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF), a pandemic relief program authorized by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to support restaurants, bars, and other food- and drink-related businesses.
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Key Facts
- State: Oregon
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes|Drug Trafficking
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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