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LOCAL NEWS

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Ninfa Saavedra, Digital Content Specialist

Published: December 15, 2021, 3:33 PM

Tags: PP Loan, COVID Relief Fraud

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4 MORE HOUSTON-AREA SUSPECTS CHARGED IN $35M COVID-19 RELIEF FRAUD SCHEME

Ninfa Saavedra, Digital Content Specialist

Published: December 15, 2021, 3:33 PM
Tags: PP Loan, COVID Relief Fraud

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HOUSTON – Four people from the Houston area have been charged for fraudulently
obtaining and laundering millions of dollars in forgivable Paycheck Protection
Program, or PPP, loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA)
under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

According to court documents, Hamza Abbas, 29, Khalid Abbas, 55, Abdul Fatani,
55, all of Richmond, Texas; and Syed Ali, 53, of Sugar Land, Texas, conspired
with others to submit more than 80 false and fraudulent PPP loan applications by
falsifying the number of employees and the average monthly payroll expenses of
the applicant businesses.

In total, the suspects received more than $35 million in PPP loan funds and
obtained $18 million in PPP loan proceeds.

Court documents also say the suspects laundered a portion of the PPP loan funds
by writing checks from companies that received PPP loans to fake employees. The
people who received the checks included some of the suspect’s family members,
according to court documents.



The fake paychecks were then allegedly cashed at Fascare International Inc. dba
Almeda Discount Store – a check-cashing company. The indictment alleges that
over 1,100 fake paychecks, totaling more than $3 million in fraudulent PPP loans
were cashed at Almeda.

 * SEE MORE: Feds say Harris County man used $3.3 M in fraudulently acquired PPP
   loans to buy luxe cars, jet travel, diamonds, real estate

Amir Aqeel, 53, of Houston, Texas; Siddiq Azeemuddin, 42, of Naperville,
Illinois; Rifat Bajwa, 53, of Richmond, Texas; Pardeep Basra, 52, of Houston,
Texas; Mayer Misak, 41, of Cypress, Texas; Mauricio Navia, 42, of Katy, Texas;
and Richard Reuth, 58, of Spring, Texas, were previously indicted for their
involvement in the fraudulent loan scheme. Aqeel, Bajwa, Basra, Misak, and Navia
are also named defendants in the superseding indictment.



Azeemuddin and Reuth pleaded guilty for their involvement in the scheme on Oct.
8 and 9, according to court documents. Four other people – Abdul Farahshah, 70,
Jesus Acosta Perez, 31, and Bijan Rajabi, 68, all of Houston, Texas; and Raheel
Malik, 41, of Sugar Land, Texas – have also pleaded guilty for their involvement
in the scheme. Malik pleaded guilty to a one-count information charging him with
conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering on Oct. 8. Farahshah,
Perez, and Rajabi each pleaded guilty to a one-count information charging them
with conspiracy to commit wire fraud on Nov. 30.

The suspects in the superseding indictment are all charged with conspiracy to
commit wire fraud and wire fraud. Aqeel, Khalid Abbas, Ali, and Fatani are also
charged with money laundering. Aqeel is also charged with aggravated identity
theft and is accused of submitting PPP loan applications by stealing the
identities of others.



The suspects are scheduled to appear in court on Thursday. If convicted, the
suspects face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison per count of wire fraud,
and 10 years in prison per count of money laundering. If convicted of aggravated
identity theft, Aqeel faces a mandatory minimum sentence of two years in
addition to the sentence imposed for the other offenses.

Copyright 2021 by KPRC Click2Houston - All rights reserved.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

NINFA SAAVEDRA

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