Asjid Parvez, age 38, of Albany, Albany, stated in a previous plea of guilty that in May 2023, the Farm Service Agency (FSA) of the United States Department of Agriculture mailed him a check for $972,564.61 from the United States Treasury.
The Federal Savings and Loan Association (FSA) was given the authority to provide financial assistance to select troubled borrowers who had fallen behind on the repayment of their federally insured farm loans in 2022 by the Inflation Reduction Act.
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As a result of his default on a loan that he used to purchase a poultry farm in Maryland in 2014, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York revealed that Parvez was one of the borrowers in question.
It was brought to the attention of the District Attorney’s office that Parvez was aware of the fact that he needed to make use of this cash to repay the federally guaranteed farm loan that he had defaulted on.
“But instead, he stole the money and used the funds to pay personal expenses and to fund real estate investments,” according to the DA’s official statement. “The money was stolen by Parvez, who opened a bank account in the name of his lender, deposited the Treasury check that was jointly payable to the defendant and the lender into that account, and then promptly transferred the monies from the Treasury to other accounts that he controlled.
The court has ordered Parvez to make restitution for $972,564.61 and has sentenced him to 18 months in jail. Additionally, he is subject to asset forfeiture proceedings for property that was purchased with the stolen fund.
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Following his release from prison, he will be subject to supervision for three years.
A civil action has been filed by the Asset Recovery Unit of the United States Attorney’s Office, seeking the forfeiture of a residential property in Albany that was acquired with about $202,675 in stolen cash. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has already confiscated $516,974.54 which may be traced back to the federal funds that Parvez stole.
A joint investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Office of Inspector General of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).