William Sadleir, the former chief executive of Aviron Pictures, has confessed to bank fraud and money laundering. The 67-year-old fraudulently applied for and received $1.7 million in COVID-19 relief loans under the US government’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Sadleir sought these loans on behalf of Aviron entities that were no longer operational.
In the loan applications, Sadleir falsely claimed that the funds were meant to cover payroll expenses for 33 employees at each of three Aviron entities that were, in fact, no longer operational. Upon receiving the PPP funds, Sandleir transferred over $1 million to his personal bank account.
Authorities have seized $308,058 of the illicit proceeds from an Aviron bank account. Meanwhile, Sandleir returned $1,122,090 to the bank that granted the loans. Overall, the US government lost $282,566 to Sadleir’s fraudulent scheme.
Source: US Department of Justice