Ashburn man pleads guilty to fraud involving relief programs and securities trades

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – An Ashburn man pled guilty on March 17 to making false statements relating to his scheme to defraud federal programs and trade securities.

According to court documents, in 2020 and 2021, Ravindar Reddy Palla, 59, operated IT Objects, LLC, for which Palla’s wife was nominally listed as the owner. Palla applied for and was awarded at least one government contract through the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Business Development Program, by falsely claiming that IT Objects qualified because it was owned and controlled by a woman.

In 2020 and 2021, Palla applied for loans on behalf of IT Objects through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), a pandemic program that provided low-interest financing to small businesses to pay up to eight weeks of payroll costs. IT Objects received two loans totaling $351,900. Of those funds, Palla transferred at least $348,900 into his personal checking account, then transferred at least $344,000 of the funds to his personal brokerage account and used those funds to trade securities. Palla later submitted PPP Loan Forgiveness applications for both loans, falsely claiming that he used the PPP loan funds for approved purposes. Based in part on Palla’s false statements, the two PPP loan forgiveness applications were approved, SBA reimbursed the lender for the full amounts, and Palla never repaid any portion of the loans.

Palla also applied for loans in 2020 and 2021 on behalf of IT Objects through the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program, intended to enable small businesses to meet financial obligations and operating expenses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Based in part on Palla’s false statements in those applications, IT Objects received two loans totaling $499,900. Of those funds, Palla transferred at least $410,000 to his personal brokerage account and used those funds to trade securities.

In 2024, Palla controlled at least six accounts at a brokerage company. Palla used his online access to his brokerage accounts to initiate a series of transfers from his bank accounts to his brokerage accounts, knowing that he did not have sufficient funds in his bank accounts to cover the transfers. Palla nonetheless made securities purchases using the brokerage company’s funds based on the amounts of the transfers. When the brokerage company became aware that the transfers were unsuccessful, the company attempted to recoup some of their losses by selling the securities Palla had purchased. Palla’s seventeen fraudulent transfers carried an intended harm of at least $1,292,700 and caused actual harm of $457,116.85.

Palla is scheduled to be sentenced on June 30 and faces up to 30 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The FBI Washington Field Office and the U.S. Department of Commerce Office of Inspector General investigated this case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jordan Harvey is prosecuting the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:26-cr-38.