A trio of South Carolina restaurant operators, including two associated with a West Ashley establishment, have been charged with defrauding government loan programs created to help businesses during the pandemic.
All three have signed agreements to plead guilty.
In all, prosecutors said the restaurateurs received a total of $590,800 in June 2020 from the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loan initiative after providing false information in their applications.
William Chan and Siu Chan were charged July 2 with one count of wire fraud conspiracy in a document known an “information.”
Described as the owners and operators of “various restaurant” businesses in “South Carolina and elsewhere,” they received three forgivable tax-backed loans totaling $440,000. The electronic payments included $100,000 on behalf of their Ichiban Japanese Steakhouse LLC, which opened a location in late 2013 near Sam Rittenberg Boulevard and Old Towne Road.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Columbia said the Chans spent money on “non-qualifying expenses” and that they transferred some of the proceeds “to other businesses and between themselves.”
Also, they forwarded the loan for their Ichiban Steakhouse & Asian Fusion to the personal bank account of undisclosed relative.
They each face up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine at sentencing and must forfeit any assets they acquired with the money, according to the plea agreements.
A similar, separate charging document, also filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Charleston, named Ka Ho Chan. He was described as a member of a family who owns and operates “various restaurant” ventures in South Carolina and elsewhere.
The government, which did not identify the businesses, said he submitted false information for a $149,900 emergency SBA loan and for a $1,000 grant, and that he used the money to pay for unauthorized expenses.
