Nassau Resident Sentenced To 48 Months In Prison For Covid Loan Fraud Scheme: US Atty.

CENTRAL ISLIP, NY — Inwood resident Niall Alli was sentenced to 48 months in prison for his connection to a $1.7 million disaster relief fraud during the height of the COVID pandemic, federal prosecutors said.

As part of the Wednesday's sentence, Alli was also ordered to pay $1.7 million in restitution to the Small Business Administration (SBA) and approximately $135,000 in forfeiture consisting of assets seized from corporate bank accounts and Ethereum from a corporate Coinbase wallet, U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. announced.

Alli pleaded guilty in December 2023.

As set forth in court filings, Alli was associated with two corporate entities, Allicorp, Inc. and Oxypaper, Inc. Between approximately April 2020 and November 2021, Alli engaged in a scheme to defraud the SBA and several financial institutions administering the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) of federal COVID emergency-relief funds meant for distressed small businesses, prosecutors said.

Alli fraudulently applied for, and received, four PPP loans, totaling over $1.7 million, on behalf of the two corporate entities he controlled, Nocella said.

The applications contained false information, including bogus financial data and fabricated payrolls, which was designed to fraudulently induce the SBA and lenders administering the PPP programs to approve the loans, the U.S. Attorney said.

Once the loans were approved and disbursed, Alli filed fraudulent forgiveness applications supported by fictitious financial statements and false statements, Nocella said.

Alli utilized the loan proceeds to enrich himself, including by discharging personal debts and making extravagant purchases. For example, he purchased two Patek Philippe wristwatches for $138,568; paid for private school tuition for his child; purchased nearly half a million dollars’ worth of cryptocurrency; and spent tens of thousands of dollars on luxury hotel stays, the U.S. Attorney's office said.

“Alli saw the COVID-19 programs and the deadly pandemic as an avenue for stealing money from the government and taxpayers, to spend nearly $500,000 to purchase cryptocurrency, $140,000 on two wristwatches, a $36,000 stay at a luxury Manhattan hotel, and an $800 bottle of champagne and $600 bottle of Scotch at fine restaurants,” said Nocella. “The defendant now knows the price of such conduct is the loss of his freedom and full restitution to the Small Business Administration.