A California man was sentenced to 4 years in prison for fraudulently obtaining $12 million from the Small Business Administration's disaster loan program

ChainCatcher news, according to Daily Hodl, California resident Abraham Park has been sentenced to nearly four years in prison for participating in a Small Business Administration (SBA) Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) fraud scheme. The U.S. Department of Justice stated that Park submitted over 120 fraudulent SBA EIDL applications totaling $12 million between 2020 and 2022.

Park is the owner and CEO of a California financial services company that helps clients obtain financing, loans, and repair credit scores. After the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Park advised clients to create fictitious corporate entities so that he could submit fraudulent EIDL loan applications to the SBA on their behalf. In return, his clients would pay Park a portion of the loans that were disbursed as kickbacks.

Park successfully collected 73 fraudulent loans, stealing nearly $7 million from the disaster relief program.