In a Dallas federal courtroom, prosecutors told Judge Robert Pitman that Arun Mago, a 47‑year‑old CPA, used his accounting skillset to redirect nearly $1 million of PPP and EIDL funds into his own account and two residential properties between April and November 2021.
Mago wrote a motivational guide called "Black Money", claiming that money laundering was untraceable—an assertion that later proved to be the very point of the investigation. IRS Criminal Investigation traced more than $900,000 of fraud and uncovered the drug‑money laundering.
The judge handed down a 41‑month sentence on 28 October 2024, ordering restitution of $900,000 and a $250,000 fine. US Attorney Robert Simmons said Mago had believed he was untouchable, but the program has proved otherwise.
A Plano bakery that received a fraudulent PPP loan filed for bankruptcy after losing $200,000 of capital, leaving its owner, Maria Lopez, scrambling for a new lease.
Mago will report to the Federal Correctional Institution in Beaumont in January 2025, where he will serve his term while the IRS continues asset recovery.