In the United States, there are many attempts to take advantage of the health crisis. The US Department of Justice reports numerous abuses by citizens, who have procured luxury items with the help of government aid, supposed to finance companies in difficulty. Pokémon cards or sports cars, fraudsters know how to have fun.
This is the case of 38-year-old Californian Mustafa Qadiri, who claimed to be the owner of four businesses on Newport Beach. He was thus able to benefit from government aid, the sum of five million dollars was poured into him. With money, Mustafa Qadiri offered himself three luxury cars, a Ferrari, a Bentley and a Lamborghini.
Once the fraud has been dismantled by the investigators, vehicles were seized and around two million dollars were recovered from the account in the bank. According to USA Today, he is today charged with six counts of money laundering, four counts of bank fraud and electronic fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft. .
Federal agents have seized three luxury sports cars allegedly purchased by Mustafa Qadiri, 38, of Irvine, with fraudulently obtained COVID-19 Payment Protection Program (PPP) loans. pic.twitter.com/MIdkjFeZx2
— US Attorney L.A. (@USAO_LosAngeles) May 7, 2021
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In Houston, Texas, a man decided to indulge himself in a different way thanks to the help of the American government. After getting 1,6 million de dollars in aid funds for companies affected by the epidemic, Lee Price III, 29, has spent part of his fortune in strip clubs.
According to the Houston Chronicle, federal prosecutors say he spent thousands of dollars at these establishments. Just like Mustafa Qadiri, he also took the opportunity to offer himself beautiful cars, a Lamborghini Urus and a 2020 Ford F-350 pickup but also a Rolex and real estate.
More recently in Georgia, in the southeast of the United States, Vinath Oudomsine took advantage of the sum paid by state aid to afford a Pokémon card. For the tidy sum of $ 57,789, or a little less than 50,000 euros, he bought himself this collectible card. He invested more than two thirds of the aid he had received for this purpose. Charged after the discovery of his fraud, the accused faces twenty years in prison and up to $ 250,000 in fines.
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