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An Encino man was arrested Thursday on charges of bank fraud, making false statements in a loan application and money laundering for allegedly submitting more than two dozen bogus applications $27 million in federal coronavirus Paycheck Protection Program funds.
Robert Benlevi, 52, allegedly submitted 27 bank loan applications to four banks between April and June 2020 on behalf of eight purported companies he owned, although none of them actually had any employees or payroll, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Benlevi allegedly claimed in the applications that each of his companies had 100 employees and an average monthly payroll of $400,000, despite knowing that none of them had any workers. Benlevi also allegedly submitted fabricated IRS documents falsely stating that each of the companies had an annual payroll of $4.8 million.
In the applications, Benlevi sought a total of $27 million in forgivable PPP loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, according to prosecutors.
The indictment alleges that based on Benlevi’s fraudulent loan applications, three of his companies — 1Stellar Health LLC, Bestways2 Health LLC and Joyous-Health4U LLC — obtained $3 million in PPP funds.
Benlevi falsely represented that the funds sought through the PPP loan applications would be used to pay payroll and certain other business expenses, but instead used the money for personal expenses, including cash withdrawals, payments on his personal credit cards and transfers to other personal and business accounts he controlled, the indictment alleges.
In a single day, Benlevi withdrew from the Bestways2 Health account $248,000 of PPP funds in cashier’s checks, which were deposited into other accounts he controlled, the DOJ alleges.
Benlevi is charged with six counts each of bank fraud and making false statements in a loan application and four counts of money laundering. Each count of bank fraud and false statements in a loan application carry a maximum penalty of 30 years in federal prison, and the money laundering counts each carry a maximum penalty of 10 years.
