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Paycheck Protection Program

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$6.8M COVID-19 Scam: Ex-Hedge Fund Manager Gets 4+ Years, No Parole $6.8M COVID-19 Scam: Ex-Hedge Fund Manager Gets 4+ Years, No Parole
$6.8M Covid-19 Scam: Ex-Hedge Fund Manager Gets 4+ Years, No Parole A dual New York/Florida resident was sentenced in New Jersey to a plea-bargained 51 months in federal prison for fraudulently collecting more than $6.8 million in COVID-19 payroll protection loans -- $3 million of which he lost in the stock market. Gregory J. Blotnick, 35, will have to serve just about all of the sentence because there's no parole in the federal prison system. In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Judge Brian R. Martinotti sentenced Blotnick in Newark to two years of supervised release and ordered him to pay restitution of $4,577,631. Blotnick told the judge last f…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
NJ Man Who Spent $5.6M COVID Relief On Stock Market, Luxury Car Sentenced NJ Man Who Spent $5.6M COVID Relief On Stock Market, Luxury Car Sentenced
NJ Man Who Spent $5.6M COVID Relief On Stock Market, Luxury Car Sentenced A Sussex County man was sentenced Tuesday to more than five years in federal prison for spending $5.6 million in federal COVID-19 pandemic business loans for himself, authorities said. Azhar Sarwar Rana, 31, of Newton will have to serve out just about all of the 64-month sentence because there's no parole in the federal prison system. The federal Paycheck Protection Program was designed to keep struggling small businesses afloat during the pandemic. Rana used the money, instead, to invest millions in the stock market, make a payment to a luxury car dealership and send hundreds of thous…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Feds: Philly Man Charged With Stealing Nearly $1 Million In PPP Funds Feds: Philly Man Charged With Stealing Nearly $1 Million In PPP Funds
Feds: Philly Man Charged With Stealing Nearly $1 Million In PPP Funds A Philadelphia man was charged with two counts of bank fraud and nine counts of money laundering for stealing nearly $1 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funds and using it toward personal purchases, federal authorities said. It is alleged that in June 2020, Devron Brown, 50, received $937,500 in PPP loan proceeds, from a PPP loan application that contained false about his alleged construction business, Just Us Construction Inc., according to Acting United States Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams. Brown allegedly falsified the number of employees, the wages paid to t…

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by Nicole Acosta
News
IRS Roots Out $440M In Fraud In First Year Of Pandemic Assistance, Hunts For More IRS Roots Out $440M In Fraud In First Year Of Pandemic Assistance, Hunts For More
IRS Roots Out $440M In Fraud In First Year Of Pandemic Assistance, Hunts For More Along with the welcome relief brought by the federal Paycheck Protection Program have come scams, more than 350 of which are tax and money laundering crimes that have totaled $440 million over the past year, the IRS says. On what will be the one-year anniversary of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act this Saturday, the service’s top officials pledged to continue rooting out the wrongdoing. “As we continue to navigate through this pandemic, businesses and families continue to struggle through financial hardships,” said Michael Montanez, the special agent in charge o…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Feds: NJ Scammer Used Dead People’s Names To Get $1.9M COVID Relief Feds: NJ Scammer Used Dead People’s Names To Get $1.9M COVID Relief
Feds: NJ Scammer Used Dead People’s Names To Get $1.9M COVID Relief A Sussex County scammer identified people who’d been dead for years as business partners to help collect $1.9 million from the federal fund established to help struggling companies during COVID-19, authorities charged. John Jhong, 51, of Sparta, also submitted phony IRS documents with bogus Paycheck Protection Program applications to the lenders on behalf of 10 purported businesses, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said. Jhong converted a portion of the money intended for distressed businesses into a cashier’s check “that was used to fund a business account,” Honig said. Congress a ye…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
President Biden Talks COVID-19 Relief Package During Visit To Black-Owned PA Business President Biden Talks COVID-19 Relief Package During Visit To Black-Owned PA Business
President Biden Talks Covid-19 Relief Package During Visit To Black-Owned PA Business President Joe Biden visited a small business in Delaware County Tuesday afternoon to discuss the recent COVID-19 relief package passed by Congress. Biden made a stop at Smith Flooring, a Black-owned union-operated business on Townsend Street in Chester around 3:30 p.m, 6abc says. Smith Flooring received Paycheck Protection Program loans and qualifies for additional programs under the American Rescue Plan, according to a statement released by White House officials. The company received its second PPP loan during the Biden-Harris administration’s two-week exclusive period for small business…

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by Nicole Acosta
News
MontCo Grant Program Awards $6 Million To 600 Local Restaurants In 2021 MontCo Grant Program Awards $6 Million To 600 Local Restaurants In 2021
MontCo Grant Program Awards $6 Million To 600 Local Restaurants In 2021 The Montgomery County Board of Commissioners announced Wednesday that a total of $6 million has been awarded from the MontcoStrong 2021 Restaurant Grant Program to 600 restaurants and food-service businesses negatively impacted by COVID-19. The $6 million is in addition to the nearly $20 million awarded by the county last year that helped small businesses and nonprofit organizations that were struggling due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Kelly Cofrancisco, the Director of Communications for Montgomery County. Applications went live on December 30, 2020, and closed on January 8,…

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by Nicole Acosta