Ex-federal law officer charged in alleged COVID benefits fraud case
City News Service
LOS ANGELES (KESQ) – A U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer has been arrested on federal charges alleging he fraudulently obtained nearly $150,000 in COVID-19 pandemic business-relief loan funds for two sham businesses, officials said today.
Amer Aldarawsheh, 45, of Moreno Valley, is charged with five counts of wire fraud, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Aldarawsheh was arrested Wednesday morning and pleaded not guilty at his arraignment in downtown Los Angeles. A hearing was set for June 16 in U.S. District Court in Riverside.
According to the indictment, Aldarawsheh owned and purportedly operated two businesses: Nahar Enterprises Inc., a San Bernardino-based business he described as a trucking and freight company, and Ameral, which he described as an automotive repair company.
From July 2020 to December 2021, Aldarawsheh made false statements to the Small Business Administration to fraudulently obtain a loan under a program which provided low-interest financing to small businesses, renters and homeowners in regions affected by disasters, federal prosecutors allege.
Aldarawsheh allegedly misused the loan funds he received for his own personal benefit, including causing the transfer of $149,900 in SBA COVID-19 loan funds to be wired from the SBA to a bank account under his control.
If convicted as charged, Aldarawsheh would face up to 20 years in federal prison for each count, the DOJ noted.