Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that RAFAEL MARTINEZ, the CEO of MBE Capital Partners, LLC, pled guilty to conspiring to commit wire fraud in connection with loan and lender applications submitted through the Paycheck Protection Program (the “PPP”) administered by the U.S. Small Business Administration (the “SBA”). MARTINEZ pled guilty before United States District Judge Lewis J. Liman, to whom his case is assigned.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “In the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic, Martinez lied to get money that was supposed to help people. His abuse of the system during a terrible time has now been brought to light. Martinez took advantage of his employees, a tax preparer, and the public at large — all to fund a lavish lifestyle of cars, jets, and fancy homes. Let me be clear, this Office will not tolerate such conduct and will continue to bring to justice those who put their greed above the law.”
According to the allegations in the Complaint, court filings, and statements made during plea proceedings:
MARTINEZ used false representations and documents to fraudulently obtain the approval of the SBA for his company, MBE Capital Partners, LLC (“MBE”), to be a non-bank lender through the PPP. He engaged in this criminal conduct to fraudulently secure hundreds of millions of dollars in capital for PPP loans and, ultimately, to collect more than approximately $71 million in lender fees. In addition,...
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