While the world is grappling with the adverse effects of the pandemic, there are some people who are making things worse than they already are. Remember the time when a man from Florida blew Covid-19 relief funds in July 2020 to buy himself a Lamborghini? Looks like history does repeat itself, as another similar incident took place wherein a man identified as Mustafa Qadiri, used the PPP loans to buy himself a Lamborghini Aventador S and a Ferrari 458 Italia. That's not it as the seized assets also had a Bentley Continental GT Coupe. Let that sink in!
Β© iStock
The 38-year-old man, who lives in Southern California, had been procuring millions of dollars from the government aid which was made to let the small businesses strive amid the pandemic. It is reported that Mustafa obtained at least $5 million from the Federal Covid relief funds fraudulently and was arrested last week for the same.
Federal agents have seized three luxury sports cars allegedly purchased by Mustafa Qadiri, 38, of Irvine, with fraudulently obtained COVID-19 Payment Protection Program (PPP) loans. pic.twitter.com/MIdkjFeZx2
β US Attorney L.A. (@USAO_LosAngeles) May 7, 2021
He has been slapped with several charges including wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, money laundering and bank fraud. According to reports, Qadiri submitted fake loan applications from banks that were non-existent. Morever, the papers included fake tax returns, forged bank records etc. He also used some other name and social security number to get the loans.
Mustafa was arrested last week and pleaded not guilty to the charges imposed on him. Besides seizing the expensive cars, the remaining $2 million has also been seized from his account. The US District Judge Josephine L. Staton has now scheduled a trial for this case on June 29. Qadiri has been released with a bond of $100,000.
Β© US Attorney L.A.
Β© US Attorney L.A.
The Paycheck Protection Program came into effect in March 2020. It granted low-interest loans to businesses that employed 500 or fewer employees. The U.S Small Business Administration mentioned that at least 8.2 million loans had been given up until March 21 of at least $718 billion.
Here's how the people reacted to this fraudulent act.
Thank you for your hard work on this case. This level of greed and hubris makes me sick. Think of who could have truly used these funds.
Oh yeah, he got a PPP loan. Hope he needs it in prison. ***** Protection Plan.
Good work... Now get Kanye and the billionaires who took loans and didn't need them
β Strong Moderate (@SMFM) May 8, 2021Thatβs quite a windfall, Mustafa!
β ItsTerri (@ItsTerri) May 7, 2021Can I have the Lambo? I'll put it to good use.
β asshole mirror (@NormaltonJim) May 9, 2021They should be investigating the chain of command who approved these βloansβ.
β FC (@FraserDColeman) May 9, 2021Impressive! Glad to see Justice being done.
β MadMerlin (@MadMerlin5) May 9, 2021
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