A real estate developer from Stamford was in custody Friday after being charged with stealing about $4 million in emergency COVID relief loans and spending tens of thousands of dollars on pricey automobiles and rent on his luxury apartment.
The U.S. Attorney’s office said Moustapha Diakhate, who lost at least one real estate development after defaulting on bank loans, obtained about $3 million in Paycheck Protection Program loans in 2020 and another million this year.
Prosecutors said Diakhate applied for and obtained the 2021 loans last month after the bank issuing the earlier loans confronted him with what appeared to be evidence of fraud on the first set almost a year ago.