- July 2, 2021
- Posted by: Stratford Team
- Category: Business
A New Jersey man will spend years in federal prison after admitting he made up a fake company to obtain a $5.6 million loan from the government during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic last year.
Azhar Sarwar Rana, 30, of Newton, pleaded guilty to bank fraud and money laundering on Thursday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for New Jersey said in a statement.
Rana sought a $10 million Paycheck Protection Program loan for his phony company “Azhar Sarwar Rana LLC” when he submitted his application on April 6, 2020 using falsified payroll reports and IRS tax documents, prosecutors said.
He ended up receiving $5,677,473 in May 2020 for what he claimed was a real estate development company, court documents state. Rana then used the money for personal expenses such as a $13,000 payment to a BMW dealership. He also traded millions of dollars in securities and sent money to accounts in the names of family members — in Pakistan and elsewhere —…
