Larry Jordan, 45, of Lancaster, New York, has been sentenced to 18 months in federal prison for his involvement in a conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud by submitting fraudulent loan applications for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans. This announcement was made by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York.
The Fraudulent Scheme
Between April and September 2020, Jordan conspired with his brother, Sutukh El—who is also known by several aliases, including Curtis Jordan and Hugo Hermes Hurtington—to file eight fraudulent PPP loan applications for businesses they owned or controlled.
Court documents reveal that three of these applications were submitted to Evolve Bank & Trust, while the remaining five were sent to Lendio, a financial technology company based in Utah. The applications falsely inflated the payroll expenses for 2019, allowing the businesses to qualify for a higher amount of PPP funds.
Fabricated Documentation
To support their fraudulent claims, Jordan and El submitted IRS forms that had never been filed with the agency. Additionally, they provided fabricated payroll registers containing false employee names, personal details, and inflated salaries.
For example, one loan application submitted to Evolve Bank & Trust on behalf of 5 Stems Inc. inaccurately claimed that the company employed 194 people with an average monthly payroll of $242,133.33. In reality, the company had only nine employees and a total annual payroll of approximately $57,380, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Misuse of Funds
Evolve Bank approved the fraudulent application and disbursed $605,200, which was subsequently deposited into an account controlled by Sutukh El. Rather than using the funds for their intended purpose—payroll expenses—the defendants misappropriated the money for personal investments, home improvements, and other personal expenditures.
Co-Defendant’s Status
Sutukh El has also faced legal repercussions; he was previously convicted and is currently awaiting sentencing.
