A former Oregon dentist was sentenced to federal prison Feb. 17 for attempting to steal more than $170 million in COVID-19 relief funds and illegally distributing prescription drugs, the Justice Department reported.
Salwan Adjaj, of West Linn, has been sentenced to 70 months in federal prison and three years of supervised release. He also must pay more than $10.5 million in restitution to the U.S. Small Business Administration and several private lenders.
Mr. Adaj submitted dozens of fraudulent applications to the SBA in an attempt to collect Economic Impact Disaster loans and Paycheck Protection Program funds from September 2020 through at least May 2021. In these applications, he used the names and employer identification numbers of fake business entities, using stolen identities.
Mr. Adjaj ultimately submitted more than 100 fraudulent COVID-19 relief program applications and stole the identities of more than 40 people. He caused the SBA to pay out more than $11.5 million in loans, grants and associated lender fees, according to the Justice Department.
In August 2020, Mr. Adjaj's license was suspended over separate allegations of misconduct involving controlled substances, for which he pleaded guilty in July 2022.