A self-described head pastor of New Bethel Baptist Church in Miami has been sentenced to 48 months in federal prison for his involvement in defrauding the Paycheck Protection Program for over $1 million. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to a press release by the United States Attorney’s Office Southern District of Florida, Elie Floradin, 59, orchestrated the scheme by repeatedly submitting false and fraudulent PPP applications through a mediator. These applications sought federal COVID-19 assistance funds for fictitious companies that did not exist. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Notably, Floradin claimed to operate a fabricated employment agency and declared payments of approximately $960,000 in annual wages to dozens of employees who did not actually work for the non-existent business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Officials said the scheme began with the successful receipt of an initial PPP loan worth around $200,000. He proceeded to submit three additional fraudulent PPP applications on behalf of his fictional hiring agency, seeking approximately $600,000 in additional PPP loans. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Those subsequent funding requests were ultimately denied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Following Floradin’s guilty plea, the government uncovered another fraudulent PPP loan that had been previously filed in his name. This fraudulent loan resulted in the disbursement of approximately $336,000 in additional PPP funds to Floradin. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In total, Floradin admitted to fraudulently applying for more than $1 million in COVID-19 assistance funds and confessed to receiving over half of that amount through deceitful means.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alongside his prison sentence, Floradin has been ordered to repay $535,996 in restitution to the United States government.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"