Rahul Shah, a 56-year-old Indian-origin businessman from Evanston, Chicago, was sentenced to six years in prison for fraud involving over $55 million. Shah falsely obtained commercial loans and COVID-19 Paycheck Protection Program funds. The US Department of Justice said he was also sentenced to two years of supervised release and ordered to pay $23,226,005 in restitution. Shah operated multiple IT companies in Chicago. A jury convicted him in July 2025 on 16 federal charges: seven counts of bank fraud, five counts of making false statements to financial institutions, two counts of money laundering, and two counts of aggravated identity theft. Court records show Shah submitted fake bank statements, inflated deposit and revenue reports, and forged audited financial statements to get loans he was not eligible for. He defaulted on at least one loan and used the fraud money for other transactions. Shah also filed fraudulent applications for SBA COVID-19 relief, overstating payroll expenses by submitting fake IRS documents and using stolen identities. The government exposed these lies after comparing his IRS Forms 941 to actual tax filings. Assistant Attorney General A Tysen Duva said, "The defendant orchestrated a massive scheme to fraudulently obtain over $55 million in commercial loans and lines of credit from federally insured financial institutions and exploit the Paycheck Protection Program." US Attorney Andrew S Boutros described Shah's actions as driven by "determination and greed" and praised the teamwork of investigators and prosecutors. The FBI and SBA Office of Inspector General investigated the case. The US Justice Department Criminal Division Fraud Section and the Northern District of Illinois prosecuted it.