Raymond Rahbar, Bank Fraud and Aggravated Identity Theft, Virginia 2024

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Three Local Businessmen Sentenced for $4M COVID Relief Scheme

Alexandria, VA – In a shocking turn of events, three local businessmen have been sentenced to prison for their roles in a multi-million-dollar scheme to defraud the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), a pandemic program that provided low-interest financing to small businesses to pay up to eight weeks of payroll costs.

Raymond Rahbar, 44, of Great Falls; Ryan Macaulay, 36, of Gambrills, Maryland; and Carl Pierre, 37, of Alexandria, co-founded BYNDfit, a fitness center planned in Washington that never opened to the public. Between April 2020 and June 2021, Rahbar, Macaulay, and Pierre submitted PPP loan applications in which they inflated the number of BYNDfit employees to increase their purported payroll costs and obtain more money.

The conspirators submitted purported payroll summaries that listed people who did not work for BYNDfit, including local students whose only interaction with BYNDfit was providing their name and personal identifying information to BYNDfit at a career fair. In support of the applications, the conspirators also submitted fabricated tax forms.

Using the same type of misrepresentations about the number of employees, Rahbar obtained four additional PPP loans on behalf of two construction companies he controlled: AMC Building Group and American Majestic Construction. In total, Rahbar fraudulently obtained at least $3.1 million in PPP loans, and attempted to obtain over $4 million in PPP loans.

Rahbar, who pled guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and aggravated identity theft, was sentenced to four years and six months in prison. Macaulay, who pled guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and unlawful monetary transactions, was sentenced to two years in prison. Pierre, who pled guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud, was sentenced to one day in prison.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kristin S. Starr and Avi Panth, with former Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Hood playing a key role in the investigation.

U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Lindsey Halligan and FBI Washington Field Office’s Criminal Division Special Agent in Charge Reid Davis made the announcement after the sentencing by U.S. District Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles.

The defendants’ scheme highlights the importance of vigilance in the face of COVID-19 relief efforts. As the nation continues to grapple with the aftermath of the pandemic, it is essential to hold accountable those who seek to exploit these programs for personal gain.