Michigan Man Sentenced For $1 Million COVID-19 Fraud Scheme

A Michigan man has been sentenced to 32 months in federal prison for submitting fraudulent paperwork and receiving about $600,000 out of nearly $1 million of COVID-19 relief funds he requested.

According to FOX 59, 60-year-old Michael Bischoff, CEO of Passport Pizza, pleaded guilty to bank fraud in November 2020.

Court documents state that Bischoff owned several pizza restaurants in Macomb County. He admitted to submitting at least nine fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan applications. Each of those applications included falsified payroll information, business expenses and the number of people he employed.

He also admitted to submitting fake tax documents and using another person's personal information to defraud the financial institutions and secure the PPP loans.

With the falsified information he submitted, Bischoff received a total of $593,590 out of the $931,000 he was seeking from the COVID-I9 relief fund.

During his sentencing on Tuesday (September 14), Bischoff was ordered to serve 32 months in federal prison; then, he will do three years of supervised release and pay $593,590 in restitution and a $5,000 fine.

Since the PPP loans were introduced because of the pandemic, there have been several cases of fraud. In fact, three other Michigan residents were charged in an $11 million fraud scheme this July.