A San Fernando Valley resident was arrested Thursday for allegedly attempting to fraudulently obtain $27 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funds.
According to the Department of Justice, Robert Benlevi of Encino has been charged with six counts of bank fraud, six counts of false statements in a loan application and four counts of money laundering.
Benlevi allegedly submitted 27 bank loan applications to four banks between April and June 2020 on behalf of eight companies he was the sole owner of.
In his fraudulent applications, Benlevi allegedly represented that each of his companies had 100 employees and average monthly payroll of $400,000 and submitted fabricated IRS documents falsely stating that each of the companies had an annual payroll of $4.8 million.
However, the Department of Justice alleges, none of Benlevi’s companies had employees or payroll expenses. Due to his alleged duplicity, three of Benlevi’s companies received $3 million in forgivable PPP loans.
Benlevi allegedly used the funds for personal expenses, including cash withdrawals, payments on his personal credit cards and transfers to other personal and business accounts he controlled.
According to the Department of Justice, Benlevi allegedly withdrew $248,000 of PPP funds in cashier’s checks from one of his company accounts and deposited the funds into other personal accounts.
Each count of bank fraud and false statements in a loan application carry a maximum penalty of 30 years in federal prison, and the money laundering counts each carry a maximum penalty of 10 years.
A federal district court judge would determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors, if Benlevi is convicted.
Benlevi is scheduled to be arraigned on the indictment Thursday in United States District Court in downtown Los Angeles.