Ashburn Woman Convicted In $2.5M Pandemic Fraud Scheme

ASHBURN, VA — An Ashburn woman was convicted this week in connection with a $2.5 million scheme involving fraudulent paycheck protection program loans during the pandemic.

The woman, 47-year-old Rose-Marie Nsahlai, was convicted on charges of conspiracy, bank fraud, and money laundering. Her sentencing is scheduled for July 19. Nsahlai faces a maximum of 30 years in prison.

In 2021, Nsahlai's husband, Didier Kindambu, pleaded guilty in the same scheme, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office of the Eastern District of Virginia. Prosecutors claimed that Nsahlai and her husband fraudulently obtained two PPP loans for the husband's businesses.

The couple created fake payroll documents to support their loan applications, authorities said.

"The fraudulent documentation represented that her husband’s businesses had dozens of employees with over $17 million of annual payroll in 2019, when in fact they had few, if any, employees," the U.S. Attorney's Office said. "In total, Nsahlai and her husband fraudulently obtained approximately $2,501,753 in loan proceeds, and they then spent those funds on items unrelated to any legitimate PPP-related expense."

Prosecutors said Nsahlai and her husband used the funds to put a down payment on a 7,000 square foot house in Leesburg.

In 2021, Raj Parekh was the acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia when Kindamu pleaded guilty.

"At a time when countless families and business owners nationwide are struggling to make ends meet during the ongoing pandemic, Didier Kindambu committed a multimillion-dollar bank fraud by misappropriating COVID-19 taxpayer relief funds to pay for his lavish lifestyle,” Parekh said in a 2021 news release. "Together with our law enforcement partners, this Office will continue to prosecute and bring to justice those who seek to exploit essential pandemic recovery programs and profit from the misfortunes of others for personal gain."