BUFFALO, N.Y. — On the eve of his trial, Amherst businessman Hormoz Mansouri pleaded guilty to fraudulently obtaining COVID-19 relief funds.
Mansouri's plea was for just two of the 40 counts he was facing. He plead guilty to count one “conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud” and count six “bank fraud.”
Mansouri was originally accused of filing fraudulent loan applications with both the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) Program. Those loans were designed to provide emergency financial aid under Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES Act).
The U.S. Attorney's Office said Mansouri had applied for loans under the following businesses he controlled:
- HLM Holding LLC,
- El Team Inc.,
- NPTS Inc.,
- 2060 Sheridan Drive LLC,
- 212 Holden Avenue LLC,
- 350 Old Niagara Falls Boulevard LLC,
- 47 East Amherst LLC, and
- 3600 Harlem Road LLC.
According to the U.S. Attorney's office, the loans that those entities obtained either inflated or completely fabricated the average monthly payroll and six of the eight had no actual employees or payroll expenses at all.
Manouri will have to pay approximately $5 million in forfeiture, restitution & fines. He also faces a sentence of 33 to 41 months prison when he is sentenced in February.