Feds: California convict tried steal $22M from loan program

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The former leader of a Black Muslim temple convicted five years ago of defrauding several local governments in California has been charged with trying to steal $22 million from the Paycheck Protection Program.

Attila Colar, 48, of Richmond, who goes by several aliases including Dahood Sharieff Bey, was charged with bank fraud in an alleged scheme where he falsified documents to take advantage of the federal program intended to keep small businesses afloat during the coronavirus pandemic, the U.S. Attorney's Office in San Francisco said Friday.

Colar faces up to 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine if convicted.

Prosecutors sought to keep him detained in jail while the case is prosecuted by telling the court that Colar tried to destroy records related to PPP applications by flushing them down the toilet when investigators executed a search warrant at his home in Hercules.

According to a criminal complaint, he submitted nine loan applications, including three for All Hands on Deck, a nonprofit he founded to offer services to people released from jail or prison, and received $1.1 million from one of those applications. Prosecutors said he falsified payroll tax documents to make it look like he was paying employees in excess of $22 million, when there were no W2 forms to back up the claim.

None of the loan money was spent, defense attorney Patrick Hanly wrote in a motion arguing for Colar's release.

“This is a no loss paper crime. A fraud case involving allegations of false statements on a loan application,” Hanly wrote. “The loan proceeds sat in the defendant's account for over 2 weeks before being seized by the FBI.”

The East Bay Times reports that Colar was the leader of BMT, which was based out of a Black Muslim temple and formed...