Fairfax CEO Bought Cryptocurrency, Made Investments With Pandemic-Relief Funds: DOJ

FAIRFAX, VA — A Fairfax man and the Texas defense contractor he worked for agreed to pay more than $283,000 in civil penalties, damages, and restitution to settle allegations that the man used pandemic relief funds to purchase cryptocurrency and make other investments, according to a U.S. Department of Justice release.

Harish Vajja of Fairfax, the CEO of CybeCys, Inc., was accused of transferring funds from the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loan program to his individual investment account to make the investments, according to court documents.

PPP and EIDL funding were designed to provide economic relief to eligible small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Acting on CybeCys' behalf, Vajja appled for a $954,446 PPP loan and an $80,700 EIDL loan. Once CybeCys received a $954,446 PPP loan, Vajja allegedly moved PPP funds to his individual investment account, which he used to purchase securities, exchange-traded funds, and cryptocurrency, according to court documents. At the same time, CybeCys used other corporate funds to maintain its payroll.

In addition, Vajja allegedly directed CybeCys to deposit EIDL funds it received into a personal bank account, a portion of which he transferred to his investment account to buy securities, exchange-traded funds, and cryptocurrency, according to court documents.

Vajja and CybeCys agreed to pay $178,493 in restitution, civil penalties, and damage multipliers under the False Claims Act, according to a DOJ release. They also agreed to pay $104,515 in civil penalties under the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989.

In addition, CybeCys repaid the full PPP and EIDL loan amounts and agreed not to seek forgiveness of the PPP loan, according to court documents.