Businessman Arrested for Multi-Million Dollar Fraud Scheme to Defraud Pandemic Relief Programs

WASHINGTON - Jose "Joe" Biaou, 40, a local businessman and founder of FRB Capital Group LLC ("FRB"), was arrested today on charges he defrauded the Paycheck Protection (PPP) and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) programs, announced United States Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Inspector in Charge Damon E. Wood of the Washington Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service's (USPIS) Washington Division. The indictment, returned on July 16, 2024, was unsealed today and Biaou made an initial appearance in U.S. District Court to face six counts of wire fraud and one count of theft of government property.

According to the multi-count indictment, Biaou applied for and received more than $3.5 million in PPP and EIDL loan proceeds on behalf of two businesses he controlled - FRB and Millenium Global Finance. With respect to his applications on behalf of FRB, a loan brokerage firm that connected real estate developers with lenders, Biaou consistently inflated the number of employees the company had, as well as their average monthly salaries and other financial information. The indictment further alleges that Biaou then applied for forgiveness of one of the PPP loans, again, submitting false information about how his business spent the funds during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to the false applications submitted on behalf of FRB, Biaou allegedly submitted fabricated documentation in support of these applications, including fraudulent payroll reports, a fictitious birth certificate, and a forged lease, among other things.

With respect to Millenium Global Finance according to the indictment, Biaou applied for and received $1.25 million in PPP funds after representing that Global had 52 employees and an average monthly payroll of more than $520,000 throughout 2019. In reality, Millenium Global was not even in operation at that time.

If convicted, the defendant faces a maximum statutory sentence of 20 years in prison for the charged offenses. The maximum statutory sentence for federal offenses is prescribed by Congress and is provided for informational purposes. The sentence will be determined by the court based on the advisory Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

This case is being investigated by the Washington Division of the United States Postal Inspection Service. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Will Hart.

An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.