Timothy T. Duax U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Iowa
A man from Chester, Pennsylvania, has been sentenced to over six years in prison for his role in a scheme to defraud the government through COVID-19 pandemic loans. Alhaji Kundu Aly, who pled guilty to wire fraud in June 2024, reportedly orchestrated a fraudulent application process for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans during 2021. These loans were intended to aid businesses affected by the pandemic.
Aly and several accomplices recruited individuals in Iowa and other locations to submit PPP loan applications, despite being ineligible. They presented false documentation to support the applications, resulting in fraudulent loans. In exchange, Aly demanded a share of the funds from the loan recipients, sometimes traveling in person to enforce these payments.
Court records indicate that Aly was involved in over 170 fraudulent loan applications, leading to a loss of approximately $3.5 million. United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams sentenced Aly to 78 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Aly has been ordered to pay restitution of $3,478,781 to the Small Business Administration and two PPP lenders.
Aly remains free on a bond and is required to report to the U.S. Marshal in Philadelphia by April 28, 2025. Prosecutor Timothy L. Vavricek led the case, with investigations carried out by the Small Business Administration, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Internal Revenue Service, and the U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.
