Three businessmen from the Washington, D.C. area have been sentenced to prison for their involvement in a scheme to defraud the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) of millions of dollars. The PPP was a federal initiative run by the Small Business Administration to provide loans to small businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Court documents show that Raymond Rahbar, 44, of Great Falls; Ryan Macaulay, 36, of Gambrills, Maryland; and Carl Pierre, 37, of Alexandria co-founded BYNDfit, a fitness center intended for Washington that never opened. Between April 2020 and June 2021, they submitted PPP loan applications that falsely inflated the number of employees at BYNDfit to increase payroll costs and secure larger loans. The group provided fake payroll summaries listing individuals who did not work for BYNDfit—including local students who had only given their information at a career fair—and fabricated tax forms as part of their applications.
Rahbar also used similar tactics to obtain four additional PPP loans for two construction companies he controlled: AMC Building Group and American Majestic Construction. In total, Rahbar fraudulently secured at least $3.1 million in PPP funds and attempted to acquire over $4 million.
On April 10, Rahbar pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and aggravated identity theft. He received a sentence of four years and six months in prison.
Macaulay pleaded guilty on April 15 to conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and unlawful monetary transactions. He was sentenced to two years in prison.
Pierre pleaded guilty on September 4, 2024, to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and was sentenced on May 30 to one day in prison.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kristin S. Starr and Avi Panth along with former Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Hood.
“Lindsey Halligan, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Reid Davis, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office’s Criminal Division, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles.”
More information about this case can be found on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Additional court documents are available through the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER under Case No. 1:24-cr-180.
