A Maple Grove businessman has been sentenced to five years in prison for fraudulently applying for nearly $10 million in federal pandemic relief loans and misusing the $1.77 million he was granted for personal purposes, including installation of a luxury swimming pool at his home.
The sentence Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis of Aditya Raj Sharma, 48, comes after he pleaded guilty to wire fraud in connection with repeatedly seeking loans through the Small Business Administration's Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which was started in response to economic consequences of the coronavirus pandemic.
Along with prison time, Sharma's sentence includes two years of court supervision after his release and a bill for restitution of the entire ill-gotten windfall.
Law enforcement seized nearly $675,000 in bank accounts controlled by Sharma. As part of the plea agreement, the seized funds were subject to forfeiture but are not to be applied toward Sharma's restitution debt.
The defense argued in its presentence court filing for probation instead of prison time and pledged that Sharma "will do whatever he can to pay the amount he owes as soon as he can. ... He has already obtained the required guarantees to make the payment."
The filing went on to point out that Sharma is a first-time offender who has "taken full responsibility for [his crime] and is trying to make amends for it."
Prosecutors pushed for a sentence nearly a year longer than Sharma ultimately received, noting that he went so far as to submit one loan application in his wife's name without her knowledge.
"Sharma had every opportunity to succeed through honest work, and Sharma certainly did not initiate his fraudulent scheme in response to economic hardship," prosecutors told the court ahead of sentencing. Combining his income with his wife's, who is a doctor, the couple had annual earnings of $1.26 million in 2019 and $1.73 million in 2020, the prosecutors noted.
