Bergen County Man Admits to Committing Over $600,000 COVID-19 Fraud Scheme

NEWARK, N.J. – A New Jersey man admitted to fraudulently obtaining approximately $617,991 in federal Economic Injury Disaster Loans (“EIDL”) and Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) loans, U.S. Attorney Alina Habba announced. 

Malak Faltawws, aka “Mark Andrews,” 47, of Rutherford, New Jersey, plead guilty on June 10, 2025, before U.S. District Judge Evelyn Padin in Newark federal court to two-counts of an Indictment charging wire fraud and money laundering. 

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

From March 2020 through November 2021, Faltawws fraudulently obtained approximately $617,991 of COVID-19 emergency relief funds, which included loans and cash advances meant for distressed small businesses under the EIDL and PPP programs, by submitting false and fraudulent applications, inflating his businesses’ revenue, payroll expenses, and number of employees. After receiving the fraudulent funds, he diverted the proceeds for his personal gain.

The 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. Sentencing is scheduled for October 22, 2025.

U.S. Attorney Habba credited special agents of the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigations, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jenifer Piovesan and investigators of the New Jersey Motor Vehicles Commission under the direction of Chief Administrator Latrecia Littles-Floyd with the investigation.

The District of New Jersey COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Strike Force is one of the five strike forces established throughout the United States by the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate and prosecute COVID-19 fraud. The strike forces focus on large-scale, multi-state pandemic relief fraud perpetrated by criminal organizations and transnational actors. The strike forces are interagency law enforcement efforts, using prosecutor-led and data analyst-driven teams designed to identify and bring to justice those who stole pandemic relief funds.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Aja Espinosa of the Economic Crimes Unit in Newark. 

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 Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

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Defense counsel: Areeb Salim, Esq. and Shaiba Rather, Esq.