LOS ANGELES—A Santa Clarita Valley man was sentenced on Nov. 15 to 51 months in federal prison for scheming to fraudulently obtain about $1.8 million in COVID-19 relief funds. Hassan Kanyike, 30, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Virginia A. Phillips, who also ordered him to pay a $20,000 fine and over $1.3 million in restitution to the Small Business Administration and four victim lenders, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Kanyike schemed to obtain eight loans totaling nearly $1.8 million, of which six loans worth a total of about $1.3 million were approved. Kanyike pleaded guilty on March 29 to one count of wire fraud. From April to June 2020, Kanyike submitted eight fraudulent loan applications—six of which were for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and two for Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL)—seeking funds to pay the salaries of employees whom he claimed worked for two of his businesses. He successfully obtained about $1 million through four PPP loans …