South Plainfield Man Busted For Getting $3.2M In COVID Loan Fraud

SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ — An Israeli man who used to live in South Plainfield admitted to obtaining more than $3.2 million in U.S. Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, U.S. Attorney Alina Habba announced April 15.

He did this by lying about the size of his businesses, and the number of employees he had, said federal prosecutors. Daniel Dadoun, 48, of Israel, formerly of South Plainfield, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Robert Kirsch to bank fraud and money laundering.

Dadoun owns multiple New Jersey businesses, including:

• DG Distiservices, LLC, a business with operations in Perth Amboy and elsewhere that provided staffing services
• Seldat Distribution, Inc., a business located in South Plainfield and elsewhere that provided warehousing and third-party logistics services
• Seldat Staffing, LLC, a business purportedly located in South Plainfield
• And Seldat Fashion LLC, purportedly located in South Plainfield

According to this federal criminal complaint against him, from April 2020 through August 2022 he submitted false and fraudulent loan applications. After receiving the PPP loans, Dadoun then submitted fraudulent PPP loan forgiveness applications where he lied about payroll expenses and the number of employees at his companies. In support of the loan and forgiveness applications, Dadoun submitted falsified tax documents and altered bank statements.

He is facing prison and a maximum fine of $1,000,000. Sentencing is scheduled for August 13.

The district of New Jersey COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Strike Force is one of five strike forces established throughout the United States by the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate and prosecute COVID-19 fraud. The strike forces focus on large-scale, multi-state pandemic relief fraud perpetrated by criminal organizations and transnational actors.

You can report COVID-19 fraud by calling the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form