Culver City Restaurateur Pleads Guilty To $4M COVID-Relief Scam

SANTA ANA, CA — A Culver City restaurateur pleaded guilty in Santa Ana federal court Thursday to fraudulently obtaining more than $4 million in COVID- 19 economic-relief loans.

Philip Frederick Camino, 45, who owns a hospitality company that has developed restaurants and hotels in California, Tennessee, and Kentucky, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, according to the United States Attorney's office.

United States District Judge Fred W. Slaughter scheduled a March 6 sentencing hearing, at which time Camino will face a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.

From April 2020 to April 2021, Camino submitted false and fraudulent applications to the United States Small Business Administration and banks for Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loans, federal authorities said.

In these applications, Camino made false statements, including inflating the number of employees, providing fictitious federal tax forms that were never filed with the Internal Revenue Service and falsely certifying that the loan proceeds would be used for legal business purposes.

According to federal authorities, the SBA and lenders approved and funded these loans, the proceeds of which were transferred to a bank account under Camino's control. Authorities say Camino used most of the fraudulently obtained money for expenses prohibited under the federal programs, including paying more than $100,000 in kickbacks to an accomplice.

In June 2020, Camino emailed a bank containing false documentation to support a $144,270 fraudulent PPP loan application on behalf of a company controlled by a co-conspirator. In total, Camino submitted more than 20 fraudulent loan applications from which he obtained more than $4 million, the U.S Attorney's office said.

City News Service