United States of America v. Sarkis Sarkisyan, a.k.a. “Samuel Shaw”

Los Angeles, California, criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with engaging in a series of fraud schemes that caused nearly $5 million in losses to federal COVID 19 relief and small business lending programs.

Sarkis Sarkisyan, a.k.a. “Samuel Shaw,” 38, of North Hollywood, fabricated businesses, payrolls, IRS tax forms, and financial records to obtain federally backed loans intended to support legitimate small businesses during the COVID 19 pandemic. He and his co schemers then transferred the proceeds through shell companies and associates to conceal the origin of the illicit funds.

In total, Sarkisyan and his co-schemers received $4,866,457 in fraudulently obtained loan proceeds, most of which ultimately benefited him personally.

Sarkisyan “participated in a massive scheme to defraud multiple banks and, ultimately, taxpayers, out of almost $5 million in funds from lending programs designed to benefit small businesses and those in need during the COVID-19 pandemic,” prosecutors argued in their sentencing memorandum. His scheme “involved fabricating out of whole cloth businesses to make them appear legitimate entities whose funds taxpayers would expect to be an engine for the greater economy or in need of dire assistance during the pandemic,” and by doing so, defendant “exploited the goodwill of lenders and taxpayers.”

The Defendant was found guilty and was sentenced to 70 months in prison.