Two Indian-origin men in US guilty of fraud in multi-million dollar Covid fund

Houston, Oct 4 (PTI) Two men of Indian origin in the US have pleaded guilty to their participation in a multi-million dollar fraud scheme by obtaining loans under an economic assistance plan following the Covid-19 pandemic in the country, the justice department said.

The Department of Justice in a statement said Nishant Patel, 41, and Harjeet Singh, 49, both from Houston and three others engaged in fraudulently obtaining and laundering millions of dollars in forgivable Paycheck Protection Programme (PPP) loans that the Small Business Administration (SBA) guarantees under the CARES Act.

They admitted to submitting false and fraudulent PPP loan applications to SBA and certain SBA-approved PPP lenders.