N.J. gentleman admits he fraudulently acquired $5.6M COVID enterprise mortgage

A New Jersey gentleman will shell out a long time in federal prison immediately after admitting he manufactured up a pretend corporation to attain a $5.6 million mortgage from the authorities throughout the early days of the coronavirus pandemic previous 12 months.

Azhar Sarwar Rana, 30, of Newton, pleaded guilty to lender fraud and funds laundering on Thursday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for New Jersey mentioned in a assertion.

Rana sought a $10 million Paycheck Defense System financial loan for his phony enterprise “Azhar Sarwar Rana LLC” when he submitted his software on April 6, 2020 utilizing falsified payroll studies and IRS tax paperwork, prosecutors reported.

He finished up receiving $5,677,473 in May perhaps 2020 for what he claimed was a genuine estate progress enterprise, court docket paperwork state. Rana then utilised the dollars for private bills this sort of as a $13,000 payment to a BMW dealership. He also traded tens of millions of dollars in securities and despatched income to accounts in the names of family associates — in Pakistan and elsewhere — in accordance to charging paperwork.

Authorities arrested Rana on Dec. 12, several hours in advance of was scheduled to board a flight to Pakistan booked before that day.

Rana is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 3. The lender fraud demand carries a utmost 30-12 months sentence whilst the funds laundering demand has a prime penalty of 10 many years.

PPP financial loans are aspect of the CARES Act (Coronavirus Support, Aid, and Financial Security) and are supposed to be used to for payroll charges, desire on mortgages, lease and utilities.

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Jeff Goldman may be attained at [email protected].