Ohio couple pleads guilty to using trucking companies for COVID-related loan fraud

An Ohio couple that owned multiple trucking companies pleaded guilty Monday in an Ohio federal courtroom to charges they committed wire fraud to obtain funds under COVID-era programs designed to keep employees on the payroll in the early days of the pandemic.

Ajay Chawla, 60, and his wife Ruhi, 50, pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio to charges of wire fraud. The original complaint was filed in January 2024, and the investigation began in 2022, according to court documents.

There were four trucking companies that were at the heart of the Chawlas’ fraud: Prime Transportation and Logistics, ABC Trucking, Apex Truck Lines LLC and A1 Diesel Truck Repair. The charges against Ajay Chawla also said he submitted false statements to both the Department of Transportation’s Office of the Inspector General and FMCSA. The false statements involved the ownership of Apex Truck Lines.

In a prepared statement, the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Southern District of Ohio noted that wire fraud can carry a penalty of up to 20 years. No sentencing date was disclosed by the U.S. Attorney’s office that issued a prepared statement on the guilty pleas.

In the revised charge handed down in April, prosecutors recap the various loan requests under the Paycheck Protection Plan (PPP) and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) programs that the Chawlas took advantage of to secure funds from the government. 

Total funds in question

The number of fraudulent loans obtained by the defendants totaled four under PPP and three under EIDL. A list of all the loans acquired by the Chawlas totaled more than $900,000.

The government said the funds were not used to guarantee a continuation of worker employment. Instead, they were used primarily for real estate acquisitions. 

The Chawlas, according to the revised charge, launched their scheme soon after the pandemic hit, first through the EIDL and then later the PPP. For example, the first application under the EIDL was made March 31, which would have been in the first days of COVID and before the PPP was created by the CARES Act. The EIDL program already existed under the activities of the Small Business Administration. 

The Chawlas misrepresented the number of employees at the companies and the company’s revenues, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.

The investigation was carried out by the Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations, the  Department of Labor Office of Inspector General and the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.

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