LOS ANGELES—A West Los Angeles man was sentenced July 10 to 79 months in federal prison for fraudulently obtaining at least $7.3 million in coronavirus relief funds, some of which he gambled away in Las Vegas.
Andrew Marnell, 43, who lives in the Beverly Grove neighborhood, pleaded guilty in 2021 to one count each of bank fraud and money laundering for submitting fake and altered documents—including bogus federal tax filings and employee payroll records—to insured financial institutions on behalf of different companies.
A restitution hearing is scheduled for Aug. 28.
The Paycheck Protection Program loan applications were made using fake identifications that were aliases of Marnell, and he made numerous false statements about the companies’ business operations and payroll expenses, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office….