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Michigan man sentenced for COVID-19 relief fraud

department of justice DOJ
Posted at 6:17 PM, Sep 14, 2021
and last updated 2021-09-14 18:17:40-04

MACOMB COUNTY, Mich. — One Michigan man was sentenced to 32 months in federal prison for fraudulently seeking $1 million in Paycheck Program (PPP) loans.

Michael Bischoff, 60, of Macomb County plead guilty to bank fraud on Nov. 23, 2020 according to the Department of Justice.

Bischoff owned multiple pizza restaurants in Macomb County and admitted to defrauding several financial institutions by submitting at least nine falsified PPP loan applications that included false representations about payroll, business expenses, and the number of employees working at his restaurants.

Additionally, Bischoff submitted multiple fabricated tax documents and fraudulently used another person’s personal identifying information to secure the PPP loans.

In total Bischoff $931,000 in COVID-19 relief funds and received approximately $593,590. In addition to his 32-month prison sentence, Bischoff has been ordered to serve three years of supervised release, and pay $593,590 in restitution alongside a $5,000 fine.

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form.