San Diego restaurant owner, Leronce Suel, was convicted of tax and COVID-relief fraud after reportedly hiding millions of dollars in cash in his house.

Suel was charged with underreporting over $1.7 million in revenue on tax returns and providing false information to secure $1.77 million in Paycheck Protection Program loans and Restaurant Revitalization Fund grants.

He allegedly certified that his businesses, Rockstar Dough LLC and Chicken Feed LLC, would use the money appropriately.

“Instead of using the COVID-19 relief program funds on eligible expenses, Suel and his co-conspirator made substantial cash withdrawals from their business bank accounts and purchased a home in Arkansas,” prosecutors said. “As part of their conspiracy, Suel concealed more than $2.4 million in cash in his bedroom.”

The restaurant owner also conspired with his business partner to falsify tax returns and failed to report cash and personal expenses, according to prosecutors. He now faces charges of wire fraud, conspiracy, and tax crimes.

In June 2023, American Faith reported that at least $280 billion in COVID-19 relief aid was stolen and another $123 billion was wasted for a combined 10% of total aid.

At the time, more than 2,230 individuals had been charged with pandemic aid fraud.

In an effort to provide aid to businesses during the COVID pandemic, traditional money protections fell by the wayside.

“Self-certifications” were used to prove individuals’ identity, a system Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Michael Horowitz explained.“If you open up the bank window and say, give me your application and just promise me you really are who you say you are, you attract a lot of fraudsters and that’s what happened here,” he said.

The Small Business Administration (SBA), the agency managing two of the COVID-19 aid programs, gauged fraud at the time to be $86 billion in the economic injury disaster loan program and $20 billion in the Paycheck Protection Program.