BUFFALO, N.Y. — An Amherst businessman was charged on Tuesday for defrauding the Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loan programs of $3.5 million.
Hormoz Mansouri, 67, was charged with wire fraud, bank fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud, and money laundering. He could face a maximum of 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo, who is handling the case, alleges that Mansouri filed fraudulent PPP and EIDL loan applications. Mansouri managed 8 businesses and filed 16 different PPP loans and eight different EIDL loans.
The PPP loan amount given to a business is based on payroll expenses. DiGiacomo says for each of the 16 PPP loans Mansouri filed he exaggerated or fabricated monthly payroll expenses. Six of the eight businesses had no employees or payroll expenses at all.
Additionally, Mansouri made false representation and provided fraudulent documentation for the EIDL applications.
Mansouri received $3.5 million in PPP and EIDL loans between March 2020 and May 2021. If he had provided accurate information, he would have received significantly smaller loans or no loans at all, according to the Attorney General's Office.
Mansouri is alleged by DiGiacomo to have moved the money between business accounts to get the money transferred into different business accounts, personal accounts, a campaign account in the name of Mansouri for County Comptroller a casino. This was done to hide the source, ownership, and location of the funds.
On May 28, seizure warrants were executed on Mansouri's accounts that resulted in the seizure of approximately $1.9 million.
The complaint is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
