{"id":852389,"date":"2025-05-31T09:11:53","date_gmt":"2025-05-31T14:11:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/31\/14-arrested-in-25-million-covid-19-relief-and-sba-loan-fraud-scheme\/"},"modified":"2025-05-31T09:11:53","modified_gmt":"2025-05-31T14:11:53","slug":"14-arrested-in-25-million-covid-19-relief-and-sba-loan-fraud-scheme","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/31\/14-arrested-in-25-million-covid-19-relief-and-sba-loan-fraud-scheme\/","title":{"rendered":"14 Arrested in $25 Million COVID-19 Relief and SBA Loan Fraud Scheme"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div><meta content=\"14 Arrested in $25 Million COVID-19 Relief and SBA Loan Fraud Scheme\"><\/p>\n<p><span><span>Published: <span datetime=\"2025-05-30T21:55:25-04:00\">May 30, 2025<\/span><\/span><br \/>\n<span>by <span><a href=\"https:\/\/smallbiztrends.com\/author\/joshua-sophy\/\" title=\"Posts by Joshua Sophy\">Joshua Sophy<\/a><\/span><\/span><br \/>\n<span>In <a href=\"https:\/\/smallbiztrends.com\/category\/small-business-news\/\" title=\"View all articles in Small Business News\">Small Business News<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><span><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"850\" height=\"478\" src=\"https:\/\/media.smallbiztrends.com\/2025\/05\/cTQBTUnB-nfib-lawsuit-850x478.png\" alt decoding=\"async\"><\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<p data-pm-slice=\"1 1 []\">Federal authorities have arrested 14 people in connection with a wide-ranging scheme that allegedly defrauded U.S. COVID-19 relief programs and small business loan initiatives out of more than $25 million.<\/p>\n<p>The arrests stem from two federal criminal complaints filed in the Central District of California, which name 18 defendants in total, including four individuals believed to be in Armenia. The alleged crimes include conspiracy to defraud the government, wire fraud, bank fraud, money laundering, and structuring financial transactions to avoid reporting requirements.<\/p>\n<p>Among those arrested:<\/p>\n<ul data-spread=\"false\">\n<li><strong>Vahe Margaryan<\/strong>, a.k.a. \u201cWilliam McGrayan,\u201d 42, of Tujunga, allegedly orchestrated the scheme, directing co-conspirators to submit false loan applications supported by phony financial documents, including fabricated tax returns.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Sarkis Gareginovich Sarkisyan<\/strong>, 37, a.k.a. \u201cSamuel Shaw,\u201d of Glendale, is accused of obtaining over $700,000 in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funds through a fake business.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Mery Babayan<\/strong>, 32, of Van Nuys, and <strong>Hovannes Hovannisyan<\/strong>, 48, of Panorama City, allegedly collaborated with Margaryan to defraud a bank out of $3 million through a sham business sale.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Felix Parker<\/strong>, 77, of North Hollywood, allegedly secured $2 million using false statements and fraudulent tax documents for a shell company.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Axsel Markaryan<\/strong>, 47, a.k.a. \u201cAxel Mark,\u201d of Pacoima, is charged with fraudulently obtaining more than $5 million in SBA loans and laundering funds to Armenia.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Law enforcement officials seized $20,000 in cash, money-counting machines, multiple electronic devices, loaded firearms, and boxes of ammunition during the operation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cToday\u2019s enforcement action is intended to send a message to all criminals who take advantage of government programs designed to help those who need them most,\u201d said United States Attorney Bill Essayli.<\/p>\n<p>Federal officials emphasized that small businesses and pandemic relief programs remain a top priority for prosecution when abused. The investigation was led by SBA-OIG, IRS Criminal Investigation, HSI, and the El Camino Real Financial Crimes Task Force.<\/p>\n<p>The cases are being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys from the Major Frauds and Cyber and Intellectual Property Crimes Sections.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<section id=\"related-articles\">\n<p>Editor&#8217;s Picks<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"abouttheauthor\">\n<ul><\/ul>\n<hr>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/smallbiztrends.com\/author\/joshua-sophy\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/smallbiztrends.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/userphoto\/431.thumbnail.jpg\" alt=\"Joshua Sophy\" width=\"65\" height=\"150\"><\/a><br \/>\nJoshua Sophy is the Editor for Small Business Trends and has been a member of the team for 16 years. A professional journalist with 20 years of experience in traditional media and online media, he attended Waynesburg University and is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists. He has held roles of reporter, editor and publisher, having founded his own local newspaper, the Pottsville Free Press.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<\/div>\n<hr>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/smallbiztrends.com\/25-million-covid-loan-fraud-arrests\/\" class=\"button purchase\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Read More<\/a><br \/>\n Joshua Sophy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Published: May 30, 2025 by Joshua Sophy In Small Business News Federal authorities have arrested 14 people in connection with a wide-ranging scheme that allegedly defrauded U.S. COVID-19 relief programs and small business loan initiatives out of more than $25 million. The arrests stem from two federal criminal complaints filed in the Central District of<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":852390,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2598,308],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-852389","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arrested","8":"category-million"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/852389","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=852389"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/852389\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/852390"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=852389"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=852389"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=852389"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}