A man from Cook County in Illinois has been sentenced to prison for his involvement in a scam that allowed him to obtain over $1.5 million in small business loans under the CARES Act.
Last year, Feroz Jalal, a 51-year-old resident of Niles, admitted his guilt in charges of bank fraud and money laundering.
The backstory: Jalal and his co-conspirators engaged in a scheme between January and May 2021 to deceive the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). This program aimed to assist small businesses in overcoming financial setbacks caused by the COVID-19 pandemic by offering them low-interest, government-backed loans.
Jalal, according to prosecutors, allegedly submitted numerous PPP loan applications to lenders and the SBA, claiming to represent businesses that he and others purportedly owned.
The applications contained inaccurate details regarding the employees, revenues, expenses, and operational status of the businesses. Jalal also supplied counterfeit IRS tax filings and fabricated spreadsheets to substantiate the deceitful assertions.
Jalal and his co-conspirators attempted to obtain $1.792 million in PPP loans. As a result, lenders ended up disbursing $1.644 million.
What comes next: Jalal was sentenced by a judge to five years and two months in federal prison. Additionally, he was ordered to repay the SBA over $1.5 million.