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A Washington state tech executive who previously worked for Microsoft and Amazon was sentenced to two years in prison on Tuesday after authorities said he fraudulently obtained nearly $ 1.8 million in COVID relief funds -19 from the federal government.
The Western Washington District Attorney’s Office said in a press release that a 48-year-old man Mukund Mohan was also ordered to pay a fine of $ 100,000 and $ 1.79 million in restitution as part of his sentence.
Mohan, who worked as chief technology officer for Canadian e-commerce company BuildDirect when arrested in July 2020, pleaded guilty earlier this year to wire fraud and money laundering charges for improperly obtaining funds from the Administering small businesses through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) under the CARES Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act.
According to court records, Mohan submitted eight fraudulent requests for coronavirus relief for a total of $ 5.5 million in requested loans.
Prosecutors said as part of his requests, he included fraudulent federal tax returns and other false and altered documents.
The attorney’s office said of Mohan’s eight requests, five were approved, falsely giving him nearly $ 2 million in coronavirus relief funds meant to help small businesses supplement employee income. due to financial difficulties in the midst of the pandemic.
“When individuals like Mr. Mohan abuse benefit programs under the CARES Act to enrich themselves unjustly, they rob those who are most vulnerable,” said Corinne Kalve, Acting Special Agent in Charge of Investigations criminals from the IRS, in a statement. Tuesday.
“Today, Mr. Mohan is held responsible for the harm his greed has caused our friends, families and communities,” Kalve added.
Mohan’s defense attorneys had requested a sentence of only six months, citing his lack of criminal history and the fact that he had only spent $ 16,500 in fraudulently obtained loans, according to the Associated Press.
Since the launch of PPP in March 2020, the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) fraud attorneys have prosecuted more than 100 defendants in more than 70 criminal cases, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
In total, the Fraud Section of the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice seized $ 65 million in illegally obtained PPP funds, as well as real estate and other items purchased by individuals with the money.
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