The DOJ in Boston have announced the arrest of a Winchester resident, Elijah Majak Buoi, 38, for seeking more than $13 million in PPP loans from the COVID rescue package.

BOSTON – A Winchester man was arrested today and charged with allegedly filing fraudulent loan applications seeking more than $13 million in forgivable loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA) for COVID-19 relief through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

Elijah Majak Buoi, 38, was charged in a criminal complaint with wire fraud, and will appear in federal court in Boston this afternoon.

According to the complaint, Buoi is the president and CEO of an information technology services company, Sosuda Tech, LLC. Between April 2020 and June 2020, Buoi allegedly submitted fraudulent applications for over $13 million in PPP loans through SBA-approved lenders. In these applications, Buoi misrepresented the number of employees and payroll expenses and falsely certified that the United States was the primary residence for his employees.

Buoi also allegedly submitted falsified documentation in support of his applications for PPP funds. The complaint further alleges that Buoi ultimately received over $2 million in PPP funds. The government has seized approximately $1.98 million from Sosuda’s business bank accounts.

“The defendant tried to defraud an emergency program designed to help businesses, and their employees, survive the most difficult economic crisis since the Great Depression,” said United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling. “This behavior is reprehensible, and my office is committed to rooting out and prosecuting this kind of fraud wherever we find it.” (read more)