OC Biz Owner Stole $1M In COVID Relief Funds, Used Money For Porsche: Officials

The owner of two ambulatory companies based in Orange County pleaded guilty Monday to stealing over $1 million in coronavirus pandemic relief funds, some of which he used to buy a Porsche, according to authorities.

Mehrdad Tabrizi pleaded guilty to four counts of wire fraud and one count of money laundering, authorities said.

Tabrizi was the owner of Life Fleet Inc. and Resonante Group, and he used the non-emergency ambulatory companies to defraud the U.S. Small Business Administration out of over $1 million from the Paycheck Protection Program and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Both programs were intended to provide financial assistance to Americans suffering economic harm during the pandemic.

In May 2020 and March 2021, Tabrizi submitted two fraudulent PPP loan applications falsely claiming Life Fleet Inc. was in operation and had employees who received wages in 2019 and 2020, authorities said, when, in fact, Tabrizi had shuttered the company in 2018. As a result of the fraudulent applications, bank accounts Tabrizi controlled received $696,565, according to the department.

In June and July 2020, Tabrizi submitted two fraudulent EIDL applications falsely claiming that both Life Fleet Inc. and Resonate Group had gross revenues and paid for goods in the 12 months before January 2020, authorities said. The SBA transmitted another $319,800 to bank accounts Tabrizi controlled, according to the department.

Neither Life Fleet Inc. nor Resonate Group was entitled to receive any of the funds, authorities said. In May 2020, Tabrizi withdrew $60,000 of the fraudulently obtained money to buy a 2019 Porsche Turbo Cabriolet, according to the department.

Tabrizi is set to be sentenced on Sept. 28 and faces up to 20 years in prison for each count of wire fraud and 10 years for money laundering, authorities said.