A North Hollywood man was sentenced to nearly six years in jail on Friday for his involvement in a scam to cheat federal COVID-19 assistance and small-business loan programs out of nearly $5 million.
Sarkis Sarkisyan, 38, pled guilty to two counts of wire fraud and one count of transactional money laundering on April 29th. The accusations were filed after Sarkisyan and his co-schemers received $4,866,457 in fraudulent loans.
According to the US Department of Justice, the scam consisted of a fake application for a $786,457 Paycheck Protection Program loan and a $25,000 money laundering transaction. He took part in another fraud scheme, receiving over $4 million in Small Business Administration Preferred Lender Program loans. He also attempted to acquire two Economic Injury Disaster Loans at $500,000 each.
“According to court records, Sarkisyan fabricated businesses, payrolls, IRS tax forms, and financial records to obtain federally backed loans intended to support legitimate small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic,” the Department of Justice said on Friday. “He and his co-schemers then transferred the proceeds through shell companies and associates to conceal the origin of the illicit funds.”
Sarkisyan and his co-conspirators “abused the goodwill of lenders and taxpayers,” prosecutors claimed in their sentencing memorandum.
Sarkisyan was sentenced to seventy months in federal prison. A deferred restitution hearing is scheduled for December 4.
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