WASHINGTON – A Washington state tech executive was taken into custody today and charged in federal court with fraudulently trying to receive over $5.5 million in Paycheck Protection Program (or PPP) loans and laundering the proceeds.
48-year-old Mukund Mohan of Clyde Hill near Bellevue was charged with one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering.
The complaint alleges that Mohan submitted at least eight fraudulent PPP loan applications on behalf of six different companies to federally insured banks, in the process making numerous false statements about the companies’ business operations and payroll expenses.
On one application, Mohan is alleged to have claimed that one of his businesses had dozens of employees and he had been paying wages and taxes for two years. In truth, he purchased the company on the internet 2 months ago and had no employees or business activity.
The complaint further alleges that Mohan transferred at least $231,000 in fraudulently-obtained loan proceeds to his personal brokerage account for his personal benefit.