A construction worker who until last summer lived in Glen Cove was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Friday for fraudulently obtaining more than $9.5 million in pandemic-relief loans and grants.
Rami Saab, 44, was also ordered to pay back the stolen funds during the sentencing at the federal courthouse in Central Islip. He confessed to the crimes in July.
He is among 22 Long Islanders who have been accused of stealing nearly $50 million in Paycheck Protection Program loans and COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loans. The aid was meant to help businesses and nonprofits survive the economic shutdowns instituted in 2020-21 to slow the coronavirus’ spread.
Saab, who immigrated to the United States from Kuwait as a teenager, has been in prison since June because of “domestic incidents” between himself and the mother of one of his children.
He pleaded guilty to committing wire fraud by submitting at least 20 false applications for the PPP and COVID EIDL programs.
Between May 2020 and last year, Saab and an undisclosed number of associates secured millions of dollars for shell companies with no employees. They did so by lying on loan applications about the number of employees, payroll costs and what the loan funds would be used for. They submitted false income tax returns to back up the lies, according to the sworn statement of an IRS Criminal Investigation agent.
Upon receiving the money, Saab and his associates enriched themselves and sent some to friends in Turkey and elsewhere overseas.
On at these three of the fraudulent applications, Saab listed the borrower as Farhad Shakeri who allegedly lived on Sea Cliff Avenue in Glen Cove and Steinway Street in Astoria, Queens — but Shakeri had been deported to Afghanistan in 2008.
Saab, allegedly impersonating Shakeri, called one bank in March 2021 to inquire about the status of a loan application. When he couldn’t quickly provide Shakeri’s Social Security number for identification, the bank employee refused to…
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