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A former United Airlines employee was indicted by the federal government for allegedly taking nearly $150,000 in Economic Injury Disaster Loans provided by the government during the COVID-19 pandemic by making up a fake limousine business.
Nenad Kuhar was arrested at 2:30 a.m. Jan. 9 at John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens, N.Y., after he was charged in a Dec. 8 indictment with two counts of wire fraud. He entered pleas of not guilty to both counts Wednesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Kenneth J. Mansfield.
His trial is scheduled for March 14 at 9 a.m. before
Senior U.S. District Judge
Susan Oki Mollway.
Kuhar’s attorney, Assistant Federal Public Defender Craig W. Jerome, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregg P. Yates, who is prosecuting the case for the government, did not immediately reply to Honolulu Star-Advertiser requests for comment.
According to the indictment, between July 8, 2020, and July 14, 2020, Kuhar, an Oahu resident who earned $70,913 in 2019, allegedly claimed he owned a sole proprietorship that earned “$650,000 in the 12 months prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and that his cost of goods sold was $280,000 in this same period,” according to the indictment.
He applied for an EIDL loan with the U.S. Small Business Administration faking the name of the business and using his home address, birth date and
Social Security number. The EIDL loans maxed out at $150,000 per application at the time.
On July 14, 2020, the SBA transferred $149,900 to
Kuhar’s bank account, minus $100 for the processing fee. Kuhar then allegedly transferred $135,000 into another account under his control.
Kuhar is free on a $25,000 bond ahead of his trial. The conditions of his release require him to stay in Hawaii or New York City unless he gets permission from the court.
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