California medical company owner pleads guilty in $1 million pandemic relief fraud case

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California owner pleads guilty in relief fraud

Highlights

Mehrdad Tabrizi, owner of Life Fleet Inc. and Resonante Group, pleaded guilty to four counts of wire fraud and one count of money laundering involving over $1 million in pandemic relief fraud.
In May 2020 and March 2021, fraudulent PPP applications resulted in $696,565 in disbursements, while false EIDL filings in June and July 2020 yielded an additional $319,800.
Tabrizi faces sentencing on Sept. 28, 2026, with a potential maximum of 20 years per wire fraud count and 10 years for money laundering.

Plea covers PPP and EIDL applications

As reported by the U.S. Department of Justice, Mehrdad Tabrizi, sole owner of Life Fleet Inc. and Resonante Group in Orange County, pleads guilty to four counts of wire fraud and one count of money laundering. Prosecutors say he used the two non-emergency ambulatory medical companies during the COVID-19 pandemic to obtain more than $1 million from U.S. Small Business Administration relief programs.

In May 2020 and March 2021, Tabrizi submitted two PPP loan applications that falsely stated Life Fleet Inc. was operating and had employees receiving wages in 2019 and 2020, court documents say. Authorities say the business had shut down in 2018 and was no longer operating, yet the applications led an SBA lending partner to disburse about $696,565 to bank accounts he controlled.

Prosecutors also say that in June and July 2020 he filed two fraudulent EIDL applications claiming that Life Fleet Inc. and Resonante Group had gross revenues and paid for goods in the 12 months before January 2020. Those submissions resulted in an additional $319,800 being transmitted to his accounts, even though neither company was entitled to the funds under PPP or EIDL, according to the government.

Sentencing schedule and enforcement impact

Authorities say Tabrizi withdrew $60,000 of the fraud proceeds in May 2020 to help buy a 2019 Porsche Turbo Cabriolet. The guilty plea adds to ongoing enforcement efforts targeting misuse of pandemic-era business support programs that were designed to help companies suffering economic harm during the COVID-19 crisis.

Tabrizi is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 28, 2026. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for each wire fraud count and 10 years for money laundering, although a federal district court judge will determine the final sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department's Criminal Division and First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bilal A. Essayli for the Central District of California announced the case.

Our earlier article on the SBA’s expanded 7(a) and 504 lending limits explained that eligible small businesses will be able to combine the two programs for up to $10 million starting July 4. We noted that separating the 7(a) and 504 balances is intended to give capital-intensive sectors—especially manufacturers—more flexibility to finance real estate, equipment, and working capital as they scale.

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