A Shelby Township man has been sentenced to three years in federal prison for his involvement in a multimillion-dollar pandemic relief fraud scheme, federal officials announced.
Samer Kammo, 46, was sentenced in Detroit by U.S. District Judge Jonathan J. C. Grey after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud in relation to the federal Paycheck Protection Program.
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Kammo and his co-conspirators submitted fraudulent PPP loan applications for multiple businesses, falsifying payroll figures and claiming the funds would be used for legitimate business purposes.
According to federal authorities, the group allegedly filed phony payroll, health insurance, banking, and tax documents to support their applications.
Kammo and members of his family received nearly $2.5 million in fraudulent PPP funds. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and Homeland Security Investigations investigated the matter, with help from the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency and the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity.
“This defendant and his co-conspirators tried to cheat the system by exploiting a federal relief program meant to help Americans in need,” said Jennifer Runyan, the FBI special agent in charge of the case. “If you abuse government programs for personal gain, you will be found, and you will face serious consequences under the law.”
Jared Murphey, the HSI’s acting special agent in charge, stated that investigators are still committed to pursuing pandemic-era fraud.
“Although the pandemic is years behind us, HSI and our partners are committed to holding fraudsters accountable,” Murphey said. “By now the writing on the wall should be crystal clear, if you fraudulently obtained government funds during the pandemic, you will be held accountable.”
Court documents suggest that the conspirators used the personal identifying information of several of Kammo’s relatives, including his mother, to carry out the scheme.
As part of his sentencing, Kammo was required to pay $2.5 million in reparations. Co-defendant Rita Shaba previously received a 27-month prison sentence, while Kammo’s wife, Christina Anasi, is awaiting punishment.
This is only one of numerous incidents of PPP and other COVID-19-era fraud discovered across the United States. The deception has mostly focused on numerous emergency relief programs established by Congress in 2020 to stabilize the economy in the face of the pandemic.
Congress authorized more than $800 billion in PPP funding over numerous rounds, making it one of the greatest small-business aid endeavors in US history.
