By Sharon Aron Baron
Four South Florida residents, including a Coral Springs man, were sentenced to prison for their involvement in a $28 million Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) fraud scheme.
Edward Moise, 45, of Coral Springs, was sentenced to 18 months in prison. Marcgenson Marc, 37, of Coconut Creek, was sentenced to 15 months in prison. Wally Dorlus, 41, of Margate, was sentenced to 48 months in prison, and Roberto Geronimo, 40, of Miami Gardens, was sentenced to 70 months in prison to run concurrently with his sentence for drug conspiracy charges.
According to court documents, Dorlus, a tax preparer, filed around 170 fraudulent PPP loan applications on behalf of companies he controlled and over 100 others, seeking more than $28 million in total.
Of these loans, around 33 were funded to the tune of $5.5 million. Dorlus received kickbacks ranging from 12.5 to 25 percent of the PPP loan proceeds.
Marc was a recruiter for Dorlus and shared in the kickbacks, while Moise was recruited by Marc to apply for fraudulent PPP loans and to recruit additional applicants.
Geronimo, who was on bond pending trial on federal drug conspiracy charges, applied for and received a fraudulent PPP loan for approximately $250,000 for a liquor store business under his control, despite being prohibited from applying for a PPP loan on behalf of any entities he controlled.
In addition to prison time, Dorlus will have two years of supervised release and must pay $5.6 million in restitution. Marc will have two years of supervised release and must pay $886,809 in restitution. Moise will have three years of supervised release and must pay approximately $860,000 in restitution. Geronimo will have five years of supervised release and must pay roughly $262,000 in restitution and forfeit more than $86,000 from the sale of his liquor store through which he received the PPP loan.
PPP loans are guaranteed by the Small Business Administration under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act.
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