Los Angeles, CA–A federal grand jury in Los Angeles returned an indictment on April 13, charging a California man with stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).
According to court documents, Oumar Sissoko, 59, of Temecula, submitted a PPP loan application on behalf of his company, Road Doctor California LLC, that sought and obtained $7.25 million. The loan application certified that the funds would be used to retain workers and maintain payroll or make mortgage-interest payments, lease payments, and utility payments. Between on or about May 1 to May 12, 2020, Sissoko misappropriated hundreds of thousands of dollars of the PPP loan proceeds to use for impermissible purposes, including the purchase of a luxury car for more than $100,000, the satisfaction of a loan made to Sissoko in connection with his prior acquisition of a different luxury car, and the purchase of a computer for almost $6,000. Sissoko also attempted to transmit approximately $150,000 to accounts in Mauritania associated with a different company for which Sissoko purports to serve as CEO.
Sissoko is charged with four counts of wire fraud. The defendant is scheduled for his initial court appearance at a later date in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for each count. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The FBI, SBA-OIG and FDIC-OIG are investigating the case.
