ORANGE COUNTY (LN) — Mehrdad Tabrizi, the sole owner of two Southern California medical businesses, pleaded guilty Monday to wire fraud and money laundering for stealing more than $1 million in federal pandemic relief funds by submitting false applications for companies that had been shuttered for years.
Tabrizi, who was the sole owner of Life Fleet Inc. and Resonante Group in Orange County, used the businesses to defraud the U.S. Small Business Administration out of approximately $1.02 million in Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loan funds, according to court documents and statements made in court.
In May 2020 and March 2021, Tabrizi submitted two fraudulent PPP loan applications falsely claiming Life Fleet Inc. was in operation and had employees receiving wages in 2019 and 2020. In reality, Tabrizi had shuttered the company in 2018, and it had been non-operational since then. As a result, the SBA’s lending partner disbursed approximately $0.70 million in PPP funds to bank accounts Tabrizi controlled.
In June and July 2020, Tabrizi submitted two fraudulent EIDL applications to the SBA falsely claiming that both Life Fleet Inc. and Resonante Group had gross revenues and paid for goods in the 12 months prior to January 2020. Because of these two fraudulent applications, the SBA transmitted an additional $0.32 million to bank accounts Tabrizi controlled. Neither Life Fleet Inc. nor Resonante Group was entitled to receive any of these funds under either PPP or EIDL.
In May 2020, Tabrizi withdrew $60,000 of the fraudulently obtained money to help purchase a 2019 Porsche Turbo Cabriolet.
Tabrizi pleaded guilty to four counts of wire fraud and one count of money laundering. He is scheduled to be sentenced on September 28, 2026, and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for each count of wire fraud and 10 years in prison for money laundering. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bilal A. Essayli for the Central District of California made the announcement.
IRS Criminal Investigation is investigating the case.
Trial Attorneys Boris Bourget and John Gerardi of the Criminal Division’s Tax Section are prosecuting the case.
On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division (Fraud Division). The Fraud Division is laser-focused on investigating and prosecuting those who commit fraud against the American people. The Department’s work to combat fraud supports President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs.