Texas man used COVID loan to buy ‘fleet of luxury cars’ and multiple homes, feds say
A Texas man pleaded guilty Wednesday to spending millions of dollars he fraudulently received in COVID-19 loans to buy homes and luxury cars, officials say.
Dinesh Sah, 55, attempted to obtain $24.8 million through the federal Paycheck Protection Program and received more than $17 million, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
With that money, he bought multiple Texas homes, paid off mortgages at residences in California and purchased a “fleet of luxury cars” that included a Bentley convertible, Corvette stingray and Porsche Macan, officials say. He’s also accused of transferring millions of dollars internationally.
The Small Business Administration created the Paycheck Protection Program as part of the CARES Act, the first stimulus package of the COVID-19 pandemic that became law in March 2020. The program aims to give loans to small businesses that promise to keep their workers employed through the crisis.
Sah, who lives in the North Texas town of Coppell, took advantage of the program by submitting 15 fraudulent applications under businesses he owned, officials say. He claimed his businesses had numerous employees and hundreds of thousands of dollars in payroll expenses, according to federal officials, but that was later determined to be a lie.
Sah admitted to fabricating tax filings and bank statements to support his applications, officials say.
“The Paycheck Protection Program was designed to aid struggling business owners, not to line the pockets of crafty profiteers,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Prerak Shah of the Northern District of Texas. “Even as fellow business people tried desperately to procure the funds they needed to keep their business afloat, Sah dipped into federal coffers to fund his lavish lifestyle.”
As part of his guilty plea, Sah forfeited eight homes, luxury cars and more than $7.2 million in fraudulent proceeds, officials say. He pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering and faces up to 30 years in prison.
This story was originally published March 25, 2021 at 6:01 AM with the headline "Texas man used COVID loan to buy ‘fleet of luxury cars’ and multiple homes, feds say."