NJ couple charged in COVID relief loan fraud

 🔴 A former Piscataway couple is accused of stealing more than $715,000 in federal COVID-19 PPP loans.

🔴Prosecutors say the New Jersey companies listed had no real employees or payroll.

🔴 The charges carry a potential sentence of up to 30 years in prison and $1 million in fines.

NEWARK — A couple who allegedly owned two New Jersey businesses have now been charged in a COVID-19 fraud scheme.

Piscataway couple charged in New Jersey PPP loan fraud case

The pair, Sabrina Mitlo, 41, and Joseph Mitlo, 40, both formerly of Piscataway, were indicted on charges that they stole hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, Senior Counsel for the U.S. Attorney’s Office of New Jersey, Philip Lamparello, announced.

Prosecutors allege fake payrolls and falsified tax documents

According to documents filed in the case and statements made in court, from May to July 2020, the Mitlos engaged in a scheme to illegally obtain over $715,000 in PPP loans on behalf of businesses in New Jersey that they supposedly owned, but they had no employees or payroll.

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The couple submitted fake loan applications falsely representing that their businesses had employees and payroll, which included falsified tax documents to show that the businesses had paid wages in prior years, the documents stated.

Payroll checks allegedly cashed for personal gain

Once the PPP loans were issued into business bank accounts, the Mitlos arranged for a payroll service to issue payroll checks to employees who did not work for the businesses.

Officials said Sabrina Mitlo personally cashed the checks and kept the proceeds.

Federal court appearances and potential prison sentence

The couple made their initial court appearances on January 20 in Newark federal court and were released on a $100,000 unsecured bond.

Conspiracy to commit bank fraud carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and a fine of $1 million.

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