A federal grand jury indicted a California couple Thursday for allegedly defrauding the Paycheck Protection Program of more than $1.36 million in loan funds.
Christopher Mazzei, 44, and Erin Mazzei, 41, of Arroyo Grande, Calif., were indicted on wire fraud, money laundering and conspiracy in connection with a scheme to defraud the government of PPP loan funds meant to provide COVID-19-related relief to small businesses.
The couple allegedly submitted applications for PPP funds to a Hawaii financial institution and two other financial institutions on behalf of three purported businesses using interstate wires, the Hawaii U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release.
The Mazzeis are accused of creating false Internal Revenue Service tax returns and payroll records, which they submitted to the banks to support their claims for the PPP loans.
The indictment says they received $1.365 million, which the couple allegedly used for personal purposes including multiple sport utility vehicles and homes in Kapolei and California.
The indictment shows the Kapolei real property is at 92-0143 Koio Drive, Unit M4-3.
It does not name the Hawaii bank they used in their alleged scheme or any of the other banks, which are based in Pennsylvania, Maine and California.
The CARES Act, a federal law enacted March 29, 2020, was meant to provide emergency financial assistance to Americans suffering from the economic effects of COVID-19. It provided relief in part through the PPP, which provided forgivable loans to small businesses for job retention and other expenses.
