North Texas wedding planner used COVID funds to buy Teslas and trucks, feds say
.jpg "Fahad Shah, a Murphy, Texas, resident and owner of wedding planning company Weddings by Farah, pleaded guilty to COVID-19 relief fraud, federal prosecutors say. Photo by Getty Images.")
A North Texas wedding planner could go to prison after he was caught illegally using COVID-19 relief funds, officials say.
Fahad Shah, the owner of Weddings by Farah, pleaded guilty Wednesday to a federal wire fraud charge after he was accused of seeking over $3 million in forgivable loans from the Paycheck Protection Program, or PPP, a coronavirus relief program intended to help businesses survive the pandemic.
In applications for the funds, the 44-year-old resident of Murphy, a Dallas suburb, said he employed 126 people — though his business had only two employees — and submitted fraudulent tax documents, federal prosecutors say.
Shah admitted to obtaining more than $1.5 million in PPP loans, prosecutors say. Within days, he spent over $1 million to pay off his home mortgage, buy securities for personal investments, purchase two Teslas, two Freightliner trucks and a Mercedes Benz van, prosecutors say.
Shah could go to prison up to 20 years.
“PPP loans were intended to help businesses keep themselves and their employees afloat during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Acting U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei said in a statement. “PPP loans were not, and never were, intended to serve as personal loans for personal use. By applying and qualifying for PPP funds on fraudulent grounds, Fahad Shah took advantage of the COVID-19 economic crisis to enrich himself and his family.”
This story was originally published May 19, 2021 at 5:04 PM with the headline "North Texas wedding planner used COVID funds to buy Teslas and trucks, feds say."