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Man Allegedly Uses Pandemic Relief Funds to Buy a Lamborghini, Ferrari, and Bentley

Photo credit: US Attorney's Office for the Central District of California
Photo credit: US Attorney's Office for the Central District of California

A federal grand jury has indicted a man for allegedly using $5 million of pandemic relief funds to finance his personal shopping spree, supposedly purchasing a Ferrari, Lamborghini, and Bentley. The money was meant to help businesses weather the pandemic without laying off staff.

Federal prosecutors say that Mustafa Qadiri of Irvine, Texas, applied for relief for companies that were not actually in operation. Once he received a combined $5.1 million in forgivable loans through the Paycheck Protection Program, they say he purchased cars, took lavish vacations, and padded his bank account. They're charging him with four counts of bank fraud, four counts of wire fraud, one count of aggravated identity theft, and six counts of money laundering. The alleged ill-gotten gains and the cars have been seized by federal agents.

According to The New York Times, the three cars are a 2011 Ferrari 458 Italia, a 2018 Lamborghini Aventador S, and a 2020 Bentley Continental GT. A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California told the New York Times said that Qadiri could face up to 302 years in prison if convicted on all charges.

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