LOS ANGELES—An Encino man was sentenced July 19 to 11 years and three months behind bars for attempting to bilk the federal coronavirus Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) out of $27 million by submitting more than two dozen bogus applications for loans.
Robert Benlevi, 53, was also ordered to pay $3 million in restitution, according to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).
Benlevi delivered the applications to four banks between April and June 2020 on behalf of eight purported companies he owned, although none of them actually had any employees or payroll.
A federal criminal jury in downtown Los Angeles found Benlevi guilty on the third day of trial in March of multiple counts of bank fraud, making false statements in a loan application, and money laundering….