A Beverly Hills entrepreneur, Jabari Kadar Long, stands accused of a multi-million dollar fraud against the U.S. Small Business Administration's relief programs, as reported by the U.S. Department of Justice. Long allegedly leveraged the coronavirus crisis to illegitimately benefit from economic relief funds intended to aid struggling businesses. Federal prosecutors unveiled the charges which include conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud affecting a financial institution, and money laundering; these allegations spotlight a purported exploitation of systems designed for pandemic relief.
The indictment specifies that Long fraudulently received over $3 million by submitting false claims in the names of ineligible businesses for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) federal funds. This information, according to the Justice Department, which unsealed the charges, lays out a narrative where Long, 45, along with his co-conspirators, exaggerated employee numbers and monthly payroll costs to secure loans for "Priceless Preservations Construction," a company claimed to have 50 employees with $875,000 in monthly payroll expenses, which in truth, according to the indictment, had few if any employees and minimal payroll expenses. The purported falsehoods did secure Long a hefty $2,187,000.
The case is now in the hands of the Assistant United States Attorney Sara D. Woodward and is being investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations Detroit Field Office. An indictment, however, does not signify guilt, as the legal process honors the presumption of innocence; Long's charges necessitate a courtroom examination to establish beyond a reasonable doubt his culpability or exoneration.
