NEW YORK (AP) â A Chinese man who prosecutors say tried to get $20 million in federal aid for distressed businesses pleaded guilty Tuesday to two criminal charges.
Muge Ma entered the plea in Manhattan federal court to bank fraud and aggravated identity theft, admitting the fraud that authorities say he carried out from his luxury Manhattan condominium.
Judge Richard M. Berman noted that it was the first hearing conducted in his courtroom since the coronavirus forced a shutdown of most in-court proceedings in March 2020.
Ma, 37, has remained incarcerated as a flight risk since his May 2020 arrest, when prosecutors said he had applied to at least five banks for over $20 million in government-guaranteed loans from the Paycheck Protection Program and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program. The programs were intended for businesses harmed by coronavirus shutdowns.
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