Man used $5 million in COVID loans to buy Ferrari, Lamborghini and Bentley, feds say

A California man was indicted after officials said he lied to get about $5 million in COVID loans — then spent the money on sports cars.

Mustafa Qadiri, 38, of Irvine, was arrested last week and charged with six counts of money laundering, four counts of bank fraud, four counts of wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office of California.

The CARES Act passed in March 2020 authorized up to $349 billion in Paycheck Protection Program loans for small businesses to use for expenses and retaining jobs. Congress has since authorized an additional $300 billion in PPP loans.

Qadiri is accused of submitting fraudulent PPP applications for four companies, none of which are in operation, federal prosecutors said. Qadiri lied about the number of workers at his companies, the balances on his bank account records and federal tax forms, and used somebody else’s name, Social Security number and signature, according to officials.

Qadiri’s applications were approved and banks deposited around $5 million to his accounts, according to the indictment. Qadiri is accused of spending the money on “lavish vacations,” Ferrari, Bentley and Lamborghini cars, and other personal expenses.

Agents have seized Qadiri’s sports cars and $2 million “in alleged ill-gotten gains from his bank account,” officials said.

Qadiri was released on bond, according to The Washington Post.

This story was originally published May 11, 2021 at 9:15 AM with the headline "Man used $5 million in COVID loans to buy Ferrari, Lamborghini and Bentley, feds say."