Great Lakes Wire

A federal indictment unsealed in Detroit charges Jabari Kadar Long, 45, of Beverly Hills, with defrauding the U.S. Small Business Administration by submitting fraudulent loan applications to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) during the coronavirus pandemic.

Jerome F. Gorgon, Jr., U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, announced the charges alongside Jared Murphey, Acting Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations-Detroit, and Karen Wingerd, Special Agent in Charge of IRS-Criminal Investigations Detroit Field Office.

Long faces one count each of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud affecting a financial institution, and money laundering. According to the indictment, Long collaborated with others to obtain PPP and EIDL funds for businesses that did not qualify for such loans. The indictment states that Long applied for and received $2,187,000 through a business called Priceless Preservations Construction by claiming it had 50 employees and an average monthly payroll of $875,000. Prosecutors allege that Priceless Preservations Construction had few or no employees and little to no payroll expenses. In total, Long is accused of fraudulently receiving over $3 million from these programs.

“An indictment is merely a formal charge and is not evidence of guilt. Every defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. It is the burden of the government to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt,” according to the statement released by authorities.

Assistant United States Attorney Sara D. Woodward will prosecute the case. The investigation is being conducted by Homeland Security Investigations and the Internal Revenue Service.