BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — A federal grand jury has returned a 40-count indictment charging an Amherst businessman for defrauding the PPP and EIDL programs.
The U.S. Attorney's Office announced 67-year-old Hormoz Mansouri was charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud, bank fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering. The charges carry a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison.
According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo, Mansouri is charged with allegedly filing fraudulent loan applications under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program. Officials said Mansouri controlled the following businesses and applied for loans:
- HLM Holding LLC,
- El Team Inc.,
- NPTS Inc.,
- 2060 Sheridan Drive LLC,
- 212 Holden Avenue LLC,
- 350 Old Niagara Falls Boulevard LLC,
- 47 East Amherst LLC, and
- 3600 Harlem Road LLC.
The U.S. Attorney's Office said the PPP loans inflated or completely fabricated the average monthly payroll of the businesses and six of the eight had no employees or payroll expenses.
Mansouri allegedly received approximately $3,000,000 through PPP and $450,600 through EIDL. On May 28, 2021, the U.S. Attorney’s Office seized approximately $1,923,603 of the fraudulently obtained money.
