A Los Angeles County man was sentenced Thursday to nearly four years in prison and ordered to pay almost $7 million in restitution for his role in defrauding the Small Business Administration out of millions of dollars via a government disaster relief loan program.
Abraham Park, 67, of La Mirada pleaded guilty in Santa Ana federal court in March to wire fraud and money laundering, according to the Justice Department.
Court documents show that from March 2020 through October 2022, Park submitted more than 120 fraudulent applications to the SBA for Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program grants on behalf of himself and others which resulted in a total funded and unfunded loss of over $12 million.
Along with the 46-month prison sentence and restitution, Park was ordered by U.S. District Judge Fred W. Slaughter to forfeit $535,041, officials said.
Park was the owner and chief executive of a California financial services company that assisted clients with obtaining financing, including loans, and repairing credit scores. After the COVID-19 pandemic started, Park advised clients to create phony corporate entities so that he could submit bogus EIDL loan applications to the SBA on their behalf.
In return, evidence showed, clients paid Park a portion of the funded loans as a kickback. In addition to submitting applications for his clients, Park also submitted several applications for himself and his family members for fictitious entities.
In total, 73 fraudulent loans were funded, which resulted in a nearly $7 million dollar loss to the SBA, federal prosecutors said.