Edhat Staff
By the Department of Justice
Ranjan Rajbanshi, D.D.S., 46, of Bakersfield and Santa Barbara, pleaded guilty [Monday] to stealing $500,000 in COVID-19 relief money, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.
According to court records, Rajbanshi ran a dental practice in Bakersfield and Santa Barbara. From April 2020 through February 2022, he received over $850,000 in COVID-19 relief money from the Small Business Administration (SBA) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). He represented to the government that he would only use the relief money for specified business purposes such as facility costs, payroll, and protective equipment for him and his staff.
Rajbanshi subsequently used $500,000 of the relief money for improper personal expenditures such as investments. He has agreed to pay that money back to the government before his sentencing.
Ranjan Rajbanshi (Photo: Yelp)
This case is the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the SBA Office of Inspector General, and HHS Office of Inspector General. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joseph Barton and Robin Tubesing are prosecuting the case.
Rajbanshi is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Ana de Alba on Dec. 4, 2023. Rajbanshi faces a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in prison and fine of $250,000. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.
On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, among other methods, augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. For more information on the Department’s response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus.
Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.
Greed seems to go with dental training.
This is a very interesting read, ALWAYS get a second opinion: https://www.rd.com/article/how-honest-are-dentists/
Maybe instead of “greed”, although certainly I’ve thought there are dentists who fit that description, but simply the proximity of the mouth to hunger!
So much Covid money was stolen… sooooo much. Throw the book at them, but also ask why our government is so corrupt / inept.
Be done all you want, but I still think it’s whataboutism to blame the government for being defrauded.
what about what about what about.
@Sacjon. The story’s about money being stolen. It’s not whataboutism to say (quoting myself directly) “throw the book at them, but also…” think about the system that so predictably enabled these crimes. It’s the action and the ecosystem. Done for now.
Inept: “Despite warnings, California’s unemployment agency did nothing for four months to stop paying bogus jobless claims, according to an audit released Thursday that blamed Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration for “significant missteps and inaction” https://apnews.com/article/california-jobless-claims-coronavirus-pandemic-0281a79c0e644fbe283f970ee1227ba6
Any when the government was warned about the susceptibility of fraud and failed to heed that warning until tens of billions of dollars were lost, still not okay to blame the government?
VOICE – LOL, no. Transparent’s comment about the government being “corrupt/inept” was posted at 4:01pm. As such the response to that comment at 4:21pm was a direct comment on the subject raised. When someone raises a topic and you provide a direct example of that topic, how do you figure it’s a “whatabout?”
You still have no idea how this works, do you?
4:34 – Are you implying that the orange felon wasn’t part of the government at the time?
The head corrupter is heading to trial(s) on, what, 91 counts?
Wow, you totally missed the actual “Whatabout” @ 4:21. Your bias is showing, again.
TRANSPARENT – people defrauded the government and their employees and stole money the government gave them to help, and you turn around and complain about the government?
DING DING DING – you just won the Whatabout of the Month award! Wow. Private individuals stole money, but hey, don’t forget the government is bad. LOL!
4:46 – please forgive VOICE (4:34). He’s still learning. For his comment to be correct, Trump would have had to have never been president.
Reply to me: Sorry I was trying to respond to “4:34 – Are you implying that the orange felon wasn’t part of the government at the time?”
No, he’s the one that started this highly questionable vaccine. (From personal health experience, and AKA science) He also started this crazy no questions asked money grab. Biden, come on man’ he’s just chillin’ in his own mind! Science.
Trans- yup!
Sac- Like did I have one? Yes, I have had 4 shots. I also, right after the first two, developed cardiomyopathy. Heart failure. I took the other two, because “I don’t want to get other sick”. So lame. Not getting the new one. Especially since it doesn’t even target the current strain. But you all go crazy!
OG – no, I meant what did it have to do with it. Nvm though. I might have misunderstood. Thanks for the mature conversation though, it’s refreshing.
Sac @4:54 Yes 100% the government is to blame. They gave money no questions asked to businesses and workers with no strings. That’s why we’re where we are in our economy. Basic high school eco 101.
OG? Vaccine?
Sac, they were inept, not sure why EdHat removed this last night: “Despite warnings, California’s unemployment agency did nothing for four months to stop paying bogus jobless claims, according to an audit released Thursday that blamed Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration for “significant missteps and inaction” https://apnews.com/article/california-jobless-claims-coronavirus-pandemic-0281a79c0e644fbe283f970ee1227ba6
This is what happens when almost everyone freaks out. Some of us know better. Our money starts a flowing every which way.
So COVID wasn’t something to “freak out” about? Just trying to understand your professional medical take on this.
Sac- Would people do better running a business here or buying everything on Amazon?
The PPP loans process started with the banks. The banks were only helping out the high rollers. The little guy (small businesses) were ignored and were left out until much later.