News

Las Vegas man charged with COVID-19 relief fraud

A Nevada man in the US has been charged with fraudulently obtaining nearly $2 million in federal COVID-19 relief aid, meant for small businesses. The money was spent on buying luxury cars and condominiums in Las Vegas.

According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the U.S. Attorney’s office in Nevada indicted Jorge Abramovs for bank fraud when applying for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funds between April and June 2020 to at least 7 banks.

According to the prosecution, Abramovs used a various names for his company – National Investment Group Corporation, National Legal Advisors In Care Of and National Investment Group – that «misrepresented the number of employees and the amount of revenue and payroll his companies had» to the banks.

In one such application, he claimed that his company NIGC employed 18 people and an average monthly salary is almost 65 thousand dollars, while another application claimed that the company had 49 employees, and a salary is 55 thousand dollars.

The money, as Abramovs pointed out in his loan applications, would be used toward rent and payroll.

In total, the defendant received $ 1,986,737.

However, investigators found that Abramovs spent the funds received on himself, having bought new Bentley Continental GT Convertible and Tesla Model 3 for about $ 315,000, as well as two luxury condos at the Veer Towers in Las Vegas for about $ 635,000