California Restaurateur Gets Nearly 3½ Years in Prison for COVID Relief Loan Fraud

A restaurateur from Culver City, California, has been sentenced to nearly three-and-a-half years in federal prison for fraudulently obtaining $4 million in COVID-19 economic relief loans.

Philip Frederick Camino, 46, owns a hospitality company that has developed restaurants and hotels in California, Tennessee and Kentucky. He was ordered by U.S. District Judge Fred W. Slaughter on May 28 to pay $4,365,667 in restitution.

Camino pleaded guilty in August 2024 to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California said Camino was remanded to federal custody.

During the spring of 2020, Congress created two federal programs to provide financial assistance to Americans and businesses suffering economic harm because of the COVID-19 pandemic: the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL).

From April 2020 to April 2021, Camino, who owned several companies based in Hollywood, Westwood, Studio City, and Beverly Hills, as well as in Arizona, submitted false and fraudulent applications to the United States Small Business Administration (SBA) and banks for PPP and EIDL loans.

“In these applications, Camino made false statements, including inflating the number of employees, providing fictitious federal tax forms that were never filed with the IRS, and falsely certifying that the loan proceeds would be used for permissible business purposes,” said the U.S. Attorney’s Office in a press release. “In total, Camino submitted more than 20 fraudulent loan applications from which he obtained more than $4 million.”

Homeland Security Investigations, the FBI, and IRS Criminal Investigation investigated the matter. Chief Assistant United States Attorney and Chief of the Criminal Division Jennifer L. Waier prosecuted the case.

Meanwhile, in a separate incident, a New Jersey man was found guilty by a jury of fraudulently obtaining more than $2.1 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funds and Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL), and laundering the proceeds, U.S. Attorney Robert Frazer announced.

Nikenson Jean Mathurin, also known as “Nik Mathurin” and “Jean Mathurin”, 46, of Sparta, New Jersey, was convicted on May 21, 2026, of three counts of wire fraud and one count of money laundering following a four-day jury trial before U.S. District Judge Michael A. Shipp in Trenton federal court. Sentencing is scheduled for October 6, 2026.

“Individuals who exploit pandemic relief programs undermine the integrity of our financial system and divert vital resources intended to support Americans in times of crisis. Through deception and fraud, Mathurin stole more than $2 million from the very businesses these programs were created to help,” stated Special Agent in Charge Jenifer L. Piovesan, IRS Criminal Investigation, Newark Field Office.

Each wire fraud charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, and the money laundering charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. Each charge also carries a maximum fine of $250,000, or twice the gross gain to the defendant or gross loss to the victim, whichever is greatest.

On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division. The division is focused on investigating and prosecuting those accused of committing fraud against the American people.

The Department said its efforts to combat fraud support President Donald Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a government-wide initiative chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance aimed at reducing fraud, waste, and abuse within federal benefit programs.