Business Loan Broker Abraham Park Sentenced for EIDL Fraud

Location for Abraham Parks business loan brokerage

In one of the more notable COVID-relief fraud cases, a California business loan broker has been sentenced to nearly four years in prison for orchestrating a scheme to defraud the Small Business Administration’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program.

Abraham Park, the CEO of Glovision Financial Corp. in Buena Park, CA, built his business around helping entrepreneurs secure financing and improve their credit. But according to federal prosecutors, Park was running a parallel operation from March 2020 through October 2022, one that used the same SBA programs he advised on as a vehicle for fraud. In addition to his 46 month sentence he was ordered to pay $6,993,700 in restitution and $535,041 in forfeiture.

Court documents reveal that Park submitted over 120 fraudulent applications to the SBA for EIDL loans which resulted in a total funded and unfunded loss of over $12 million. Those applications were on behalf of clients and at least ten fraudulent EIDL applications listing himself as the owner or principal of the applying entity. The SBA ultimately funded approximately six of these, resulting in millions in stolen relief funds. The entities used in the scheme included Glovision Financial Corp., The Star Korean Church, US Dianet Corp., Y&K Onebest LLC, New Spirit Movement, JAMUSA Trading Inc., Glovision USA Inc., and Infordia Inc.

After the loan applications were submitted, there were sometimes follow-up questions and inquiries from the SBA, which defendant responded to directly on behalf of his clients. In exchange for his services, defendant received a kickback or portion of the funded loan applications.

Park’s 46-month sentence stands out because he was a business loan broker, someone expected to guide clients through legitimate financing channels, not exploit them. There are many that legitimately helped out business owners get through the EIDL and PPP loan applications correctly, but you always knew some would try to abuse the system. While the Department of Justice has charged hundreds of individuals for COVID relief fraud since 2020, most cases have involved applicants themselves or other intermediaries, such as accountants and tax preparers.

One such case involved Farooq Khan, an Illinois tax preparer who was sentenced to 42 months in prison a few weeks ago for his role in a $3.6 million COVID-19 relief fraud scheme. Khan used his position to submit 30 fraudulent PPP and EIDL applications on behalf of clients, taking hefty fees in return. He was also ordered to pay $3,645,104 in restitution

Both cases highlight how the DOJ’s multi-year investigation into pandemic-era loan fraud is now producing high-profile convictions. For Park, the end result was not the lucrative payday he envisioned when filing fraudulent claims. A prison sentence was his outcome, as has been or will be the case for many others.