U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo announced that Hormoz Mansouri, a 71-year-old businessman from Amherst, New York, has been sentenced for his involvement in COVID-19 related fraud. Mansouri was convicted of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud, as well as bank fraud itself. He received a sentence of time served along with five years of supervised release, which includes one year of home detention. Additionally, he is required to pay restitution amounting to $3,197,562 and must forfeit $1,888,603.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul E. Bonanno explained that Mansouri submitted fraudulent loan applications under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program. These programs were part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES Act), intended to provide emergency financial assistance.
Mansouri controlled several business entities that applied for these 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 PPP loans obtained by these entities either inflated or fabricated average monthly payroll figures. Notably, six out of the eight entities had no actual employees or payroll expenses at all. The total fraudulent amount from PPP loans reached approximately $3 million. Furthermore, these entities received about $450,600 in EIDL funds through false representations regarding revenues and costs.
On May 28, 2021, the United States Attorney’s Office seized around $1,923,603 of the fraudulently acquired money.
Mansouri also transferred the fraudulent funds between various bank accounts while mixing them with legitimate business revenues and funding certain accounts such as a campaign account named “Mansouri for County Comptroller.”
The investigation leading to this sentencing was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation under Acting Special Agent-in-Charge Mark Grimm’s direction and the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation Division led by Special Agent-in-Charge Harry Chavis.
