BEVERLY HILLS—In the spring of 2020, the U.S. Congress established the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) to assist businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, there have been accusations of individuals committing PPP fraud. One person accused of doing so is Jabari Kadar Long, a resident of Beverly Hills, who is alleged to have defrauded the U.S. Small Business Administration of over $3 million.
According to the indictment, he and his co-conspirators sought to obtain money from the PPP and Economic Injury Disaster Loans by submitting applications for companies that did not meet the eligibility criteria for these programs. Long submitted an application for a company called Priceless Preservations Construction, which had 50 employees. As a result, he was awarded $2,187,000. However, according to the indictment, this company possessed only a few employees.
Jabari Kadar Long has been charged with the following: one count of wire fraud affecting a financial institution, one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and one count of money laundering.
By Daniel Diquinzio