Massachusetts man gets more than 3 years in prison for $13M COVID-19 fraud

BOSTON (AP) — A Massachusetts businessman convicted of fraudulently looking for greater than $13 million in federal coronavirus pandemic aid loans has been sentenced to greater than three years in jail.

Elijah Majak Buoi, 40, of Winchester, was additionally sentenced to 3 years of supervised launch and ordered to pay restitution of $2 million and forfeiture of $2 million by a Boston federal court docket decide Thursday.

Buoi was convicted by a jury of 4 counts of wire fraud and one rely of constructing a false assertion to a monetary establishment in February.

Prosecutors stated Buoi submitted six mortgage purposes via the Paycheck Safety Program however misrepresented the variety of workers and payroll bills for his startup firm, Sosuda Tech.

He additionally submitted fraudulent IRS tax types to help his purposes and was in a position to receive a $2 million mortgage earlier than he was arrested in June 2020.

Buoi’s lawyer didn’t reply to an e-mail looking for remark Friday however stated after the February trial that his consumer had been misled by a financial institution mortgage officer and made a “good religion mistake” in finishing the tax types.

The mortgage program was a part of the Coronavirus Help, Aid and Financial Safety, or CARES, Act that allowed qualifying small companies and different organizations to obtain forgivable loans to cowl payroll, mortgages, lease and utilities.