SE Texas Times

A Carrollton man has been charged with federal violations related to a COVID-19 fraud scheme in the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney Damien M. Diggs.

Faruk Syed, 44, was named in the two-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury on August 15, 2024, in the Eastern District of Texas. The indictment charges Syed with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering. Syed made his initial appearance today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Kimberly C. Priest Johnson.

According to information presented in court, Syed was employed by the U.S. Small Business Administration as a loan specialist and was responsible for reviewing and approving applications for Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) related to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Syed allegedly conspired to submit multiple fraudulent applications for EIDL loans requesting hundreds of thousands of dollars of CARES Act funds. As an SBA loan specialist, Syed approved these fraudulent loan applications in his official capacity. He then received the loan proceeds and laundered the money through his Fidelity Investment account.

On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, among other methods, augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts.

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

If convicted, Syed faces up to 20 years in federal prison.

This case is being investigated by the SBA-OIG and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean J. Taylor.

A grand jury indictment is not evidence of guilt. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.