KAUKAUNA – A Madison man who targeted a Kaukauna bank for what prosecutors say was a fraudulent PPP loan has pleaded guilty in Federal Court.
Ahmad Kanan, 49, pleaded guilty Oct. 2 to two separate federal crimes charged in two separate indictments: Federal CARES Act fraud and access device fraud, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Prosecutors say Kanan, CEO and owner of a tech company called Altin Labs, twice applied for Paycheck Protection Program, or PPP loans, funded by the CARES Act.
First, in April, Kanan applied for a $72,500 PPP loan through the Bank of Kaukauna, according to the news release.
The Bank of Kaukauna noted a discrepancy in the spelling of Kanan’s name in the application, and Altin Labs did not receive the money.
Then in May, Kanan again applied for a PPP loan, requesting $47,060 through Cross River Bank located in New Jersey.
This time, Altin Labs received the money, prosecutors said.
Kanan admitted that in his PPP applications, he used a false spelling of his name and indicated that he was not under indictment on criminal charges, when in fact he was the subject of an indictment returned by a federal grand jury in the Western District of Wisconsin in October 2019, charging him with access device fraud.
The separate access device charges related to two family-owned gas stations that Kanan operated in Janesville.
Kanan admitted to using the routing and account numbers from the bank account of the Embassy of Libya-Military Attaché to pay to the Wisconsin Department of Revenue sales and use tax, penalties, and interest owed by his gas stations in the amount of $83,783.41 in July 2017, and $108,053.02 in December 2017.
The Libyan Embassy did not give Kanan permission to use their bank account to make these payments.
Kanan faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison on the CARES Act fraud and 10 years on the access device fraud.
U.S. District Judge William M. Conley scheduled sentencing for January 6, 2021.
