A federal judge in Phoenix has sentenced Mohammed Maio to 10 years in prison for fraudulently collecting nearly $2.2 million in Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loan money for businesses that had no employees. IRS Criminal Investigation said U.S. District Judge Michael T. Liburdi imposed the sentence on October 13. Prosecutors say Maio spent the money on personal gain, including buying multiple properties.
Loans for businesses with no one on the payroll
Between May 2020 and March 2024, the IRS says, Maio conspired to obtain and misuse multiple PPP and EIDL relief loans. He submitted false information to secure nearly $2.2 million for several businesses that had no employees. Those two programs were pandemic relief for small businesses, and U.S. Attorney Timothy Courchaine said Maio exploited a program intended to provide relief during a national crisis.
The money did not go where it was supposed to. The IRS release says the funds were used for personal enrichment, including buying multiple properties, instead of legitimate business purposes. Courchaine said fraud like this weakens federal assistance programs and burdens taxpayers.
Maio pleaded guilty to five offenses: conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, bank fraud, being a felon in possession of a firearm and making a materially false statement while acquiring a firearm. The 10-year sentence follows those pleas. The IRS release does not mention restitution.
Where fraud tips about relief money and tax scams go
Maio’s case was built by IRS agents, and the agency takes tips. Its report-fraud page says people can confidentially report suspected tax fraud, scams, abusive schemes and evasion, along with fake IRS messages by email, text, phone or letter that pressure someone for information or money. It adds that a tip may qualify for a monetary award through the IRS Whistleblower Office.
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The same page covers tax-related identity theft, including theft of tax ID numbers and data breaches that involve tax information, and what to do after receiving an IRS identity theft letter. Beyond tax matters, IdentityTheft.gov describes itself as the place to report identity theft and get a recovery plan.
Matters outside the IRS’s reach can go to other Treasury bureaus, the page says, including the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and FinCEN.
The gun that came with the loan fraud
The sentence covers more than loans. In May 2021, the IRS says, Maio, who is a convicted felon, arranged for his mother to buy a firearm for him. He admitted that he had her state on the purchase application that the gun was for her use, not his, and that he later illegally possessed it.
A.J. Gibes, the Special Agent in Charge of the ATF’s Phoenix Field Division, said Maio “illegally armed himself to protect his multi-million-dollar scheme.” Scott Brown, the acting Special Agent in Charge of the IRS Criminal Investigation Phoenix Field Office, said Maio was scheming to defraud government relief programs for personal gain while business owners and families were struggling during the pandemic. Gibes said the ATF was proud to work with its IRS partners on the case.
IRS Criminal Investigation and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin M. Rapp of the District of Arizona prosecuted it. The IRS release also points to the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division, announced April 7, 2026, and to the President’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance.
Maio’s five guilty pleas split into two groups. Three involve money: conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and bank fraud. Two involve the firearm: being a felon in possession and the false statement made when it was bought. The release does not break the 10 years down by count.
Pandemic loan cases are still reaching sentencing
The time line shows how long these cases run. The conduct ran through March 2024, and the sentence came in October 2026, about two and a half years later. The loans themselves date to May 2020, more than six years before the sentencing, and the firearm purchase came in May 2021, a year into the loan conduct.
The Justice Department’s Fraud Division, led by Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald, lists COVID loan fraud among its targets. On September 14 it announced $245 million in COVID loan fraud enforcement activity, announced with the Small Business Administration and its inspector general. It also lists a National Fraud Detection Center for taxpayer-funded programs, launched August 24, and a $10 million home daycare fraud case with twelve individuals charged, announced September 15. Its mission statement says it investigates and prosecutes those who commit fraud against the American people.
The IRS page also takes reports of tax return preparers who file fraudulent returns or do not follow proper preparation practices, and of data breaches or compromised preparer tax ID numbers at tax professionals’ offices. Each category has its own reporting route.
What the release leaves unanswered is where the properties went. The IRS says Maio bought multiple properties with the loan money but does not say what happens to them or whether any of the nearly $2.2 million will be recovered. For taxpayers who fund these programs, that is the number still missing from the story.
What if a loan turned up in a family member’s name?
Relief-program fraud ends with a paper trail, and the person whose name is on it learns about it late. A letter about a loan, an account or a return that was never requested is where the clock starts, and the first hours decide how much damage follows.
The Senior Fraud Defense & First-Hour Recovery Kit gives that moment a plan: the first-hour recovery plan, the free credit-freeze steps and a fraud evidence and report log that keeps every call and letter in one place. This sentencing is about pandemic loans, and the kit covers the related job of responding when a name is used in someone else’s scheme.
Follow the first-hour recovery guide step by step after a stolen-identity loan →
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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
Warren Cohen is a finance writer based in Phoenix, Arizona, covering personal finance topics including credit, banking, and beginner investing. He earned his degree in business administration from Arizona State University and began his career working in consumer finance, where he gained direct experience with lending and credit systems. He now writes for personal finance websites and fintech platforms, focusing on clear, practical content that helps readers make informed financial decisions.
