A man from Massapequa was sentenced to up to 18 months in prison at a federal courthouse in Manhattan on Monday, Aug. 25, for stealing nearly $11.9 million in COVID-19 pandemic business-relief loans and then using the funds for his personal use.
In addition to his prison time, 56-year-old Sandeep Grover was also ordered to pay restitution of between $2.2 million and $3.8 million, a $250,000 fine and forfeit assets obtained with the illegal funds, which include a home in Suffolk County.
Grover pleaded guilty in March to a major fraud against the United States and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. He was arrested in 2023 in connection with the crimes. According to court documents, Grover had potentially faced over 12 years in prison.
“He clearly understands that he committed a crime, now learning his lesson the hardest way, is no threat to commit further crimes,” court documents from the sentencing said in explaining the shorter sentence.
Grover owned a business called Excellent Business Services, a tax preparation business based in Seaford. Court documents say that Grover’s scheme began around April 2020 and went through June 2021.
He had perpetrated a fraud scheme resulting in the disbursement of more than $13 million in loan proceeds from the Paycheck Protection Program to his own companies and to the companies of putative EBS clients.
The federal government established the Paycheck Protection Program during the pandemic to financially support small businesses.
Grover submitted or assisted in submitting applications to at least seven banks to fraudulently obtain loans on behalf of more than 100 companies, and then used the loan proceeds for impermissible purposes.
According to court documents, Grover had purchased a home in Shirley for $325,000, partially using funds he illegally obtained through the scheme.
One of Grover’s former employees, Abhijeet Singh, was also sentenced Monday in a separate trial. Singh won’t spend time in prison and was given three years’ probation.
According to published reports from inside the courthouse for the sentencing, Judge Analisa Torres said over 35 people wrote letters in support of Grover, including elected officials state Sens. Jack Martins and Steven Rhoads, as well as U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi.
