Chinese national gets 4-year jail term in US over USD 20mn COVID fraud scheme

A Chinese national was sentenced to more than four years in prison in the United States after admitting that he fraudulently tried to get USD 20 million in Covid-19 relief funds meant to rescue distressed businesses.

Muge MA, a/k/a "Hummer Mars," on Thursday was sentenced to 52 months in prison in connection with a fraudulent scheme to obtain over USD 20 million in Government-guaranteed loans designed to provide relief to small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"In connection with loan applications for relief available from the Paycheck Protection Program ('PPP') and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan ('EIDL') Program, MA falsely represented to the U.S. Small Business Administration ('SBA') and six financial institutions that his companies, New York International Capital LLC ('NYIC') and Hurley Human Resources LLC ('Hurley')," the US Department of Justice said in a statement.

He had hundreds of employees and paid millions of dollars in wages to those employees, when, in fact, MA appears to have been the only employee of his companies.

MA previously pled guilty to bank fraud and aggravated identity theft before U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman, who imposed Thursday's sentence.

MA was arrested on May 21, 2020 and has been detained since his arrest.

US Attorney Damian Williams said: "Within days of Congress authorizing billions of dollars to help small businesses struggling to make ends meet during the COVID-19 pandemic, Muge Ma saw it as an opportunity to enrich himself by applying for millions of dollars in funds to pay wages to hundreds of employees that never existed."

"Today's sentence demonstrates that this Office and our law enforcement partners will work tirelessly to prosecute those who sought to commit pandemic relief fraud," Williams added.

( With inputs from ANI )