Former Virginia Delegate Ibraheem Samirah has been sentenced to three years of probation and ordered to pay nearly $89,000 in restitution after admitting to fraudulently obtaining around $83,000 in COVID-19 relief funds, according to court documents.
Samirah, 34, represented parts of Loudoun and Fairfax counties in the Virginia House of Delegates when he applied for a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan in May 2020 under false pretenses.
The PPP, established by Congress to support small businesses during the pandemic, provided government-backed loans that could be forgiven if used for approved expenses such as payroll, rent, and utilities.
According to court records, Samirah devised a scheme to defraud Sonabank and the Small Business Administration (SBA) by submitting fraudulent documents for a company called Nova Healthy Smile (NHS) — which he registered to his home address.
On his application, Samirah falsely claimed that NHS had four employees and an average monthly payroll of $33,333, asserting the loan would cover payroll, rent, and utility costs. He also submitted fabricated IRS forms, payroll journals, and paycheck reports to support his claims.
Prosecutors said the payroll records were backdated to January and February 2020 — even though NHS did not actually pay any employees until May 2020, after the loan had been approved.
“None of the four purported employees received funds from NHS prior to May 2020,” court documents stated.
Samirah pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud in July as part of a plea agreement.
He was sentenced on October 30 to probation instead of prison time but must repay the funds in full.
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