A Riverside County man was sentenced Nov. 14 to 102 months in federal prison for falsely obtaining over $6.6 million in COVID-19 small business relief funds.
Muhammad Atta, 39, of Corona, was also ordered by the judge to pay about $6.64 million in restitution.
“It’s important that the sentence imposed today sends the message that there are serious consequences for defrauding federal relief programs,” U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson said from the bench.
The federal government established the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) funds to help small businesses overcome financial difficulties during the pandemic by providing funds for rent, utilities, or up to eight weeks of payroll costs….