$1.7M COVID-19 Relief Fraud Gets Maple Grove Man 5-Year Sentence

MAPLE GROVE, MN — A Maple Grove man was sentenced to serve five years in prison after admitting to a scheme to defraud a COVID-19 relief program out of millions of dollars, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.

Aditya Raj Sharma, 47, was also ordered to pay more than $1.7 million in restitution, the amount prosecutors said he obtained through fraudulent applicants for pandemic-relief funding from the Paycheck Protection Program.

Prosecutors said Sharma applied for 16 PPP loans worth more than $9.6 million from April-August 2020, claiming he owned three technology companies with dozens of employees.

Walz Calls For Federal Gas Tax 'Holiday' To Curb Rising Costs

He applied for one of those loans in his wife’s name without her knowledge or approval, prosecutors said.

Lenders approved three of Sharma’s applications and put more than $1.7 million from the Paycheck Protection Program into his accounts.

Prosecutors said he used that money to pay off debts, send money to India, and fund new business ventures and home improvements, including a new swimming pool that cost more than $64,000.

Maple Grove Man ID’d As Driver In Fatal Crash

Sharma also filed an application in April 2020 as the CEO of Maple Grove-based Crosscode, though the company had removed him from its board of directors and fired him in November 2019, prosecutors said.

Almost $675,000 in fraudulent proceeds was seized from Sharma’s accounts during the investigation, prosecutors said.

REGIONAL NEWS:

• Gas Prices In Maple Grove Area Inch Closer To $4 Per Gallon
• 6-Year Sentence For Maple Grove Man After Child Porn Conviction
• Accused Drunk Driver Was Going 124 MPH Before Fatal Crash: Report