The former coordinator for the Atlantic City Housing Authority admitted to making up two businesses to bilk the government out of more than $30,000.
LuQuay Zahir, now 50, pleaded guilty in federal court in Camden to two counts of making false statements to influence the U.S. Small Business Administration, along with wire fraud.
The false statements charges carry a penalty of two years in prison. Wire fraud has a maximum of 20 years in prison. Each charge also carries a maximum fine of a quarter-million dollars.
Zahir was arrested at his home last April in connection with two separate claims from 2020 and 2021, while he was on release in an assault case out of Atlantic County.
No motions have been made to revoke his Superior Court release.
At that time of this crimes, Zahir was working as coordinator for the Resident Opportunity and Self-Sufficiency, or ROSS, grant program for the Atlantic City Housing Authority and Urban Development Agency.
Despite his employment, Zahir put in for loans meant to help business owners dealing with the financial cost of the COVID pandemic, claiming ownership of businesses that did not exist.
Zahir first put in for an Economic Injury Disaster Loan, or EIDL, July 9, 2020, saying he owned a business described on the application only as "advertising sales," according to the federal complaint.
The business employed 10 people and made $100,000 gross revenue from Feb. 1, 2019 through Jan. 31, 2020, according to the original charges.
He was seeking a loan along with a $10,000 EIDL advance.
Zahir received the $10,000 advance, but was denied the loan due to his "unsatisfactory credit history."
An investigation would later find that the business address was Zahir's home, a single-family dwelling that is not conducive to 10 employees, according to the complaint. Two days' of surveillance also saw no employees go in or out of the home.
Additionally, there was no other paperwork related to a business, nor had he filed anything with the IRS.
A second filing was made under the Paycheck Protection Program on March 20, 2021.
This time, he asked for $20,400, saying he ran a barbershop that made $97,919 in profits in 2019, according to the complaint. He again gave his home address as that of the business.
The FBI showed up at that same home on Dr. Martin Luther King Boulevard last April to arrest Zahir.
He is charged with one count of making false statements to influence the U.S. Small Business Administration and one count of wire fraud.
In between the two false filing, Zahir allegedly beat a man with a handgun Jan. 4, 2021.
At that time, police were called to South Carolina and Baltic avenues, where a man said he had been assaulted when his back was turned.
Michael Smith said he and his attacker spent time in the county jail together, but that he did not know his assailant’s “government name,” according to the affidavit previously obtained by BreakingAC.
Video surveillance allegedly captured the attack by the man a witness said was named “Quay.”
But during a detention hearing Feb. 23, 2021, Zahir’s defense attorney claimed it was Smith who had the gun and that Zahir took it from him in self-defense.
At that time, the state was moving for Zahir to be held pending trial.
"I understand these allegations are serious," Zahir told the judge at the time. "But I’ve dedicated my life to trying to be different than I was growing up."
His charges included possession of a weapon by a certain person due to his prior criminal history.
Zahir's testimony about his commitment to the community and work in helping broker peace between warring gangs in the city moved both the judge and the prosecutor in the case, who withdrew the state’s motion for detention.
It was not clear if the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office has made a motion to revoke his release now that Zahir has admitted to committing a crime while on release. A spokesman for the office did not immediately return a request seeking comment.
It appears Zahir remains free pending his sentencing. No date was given for when he will be sentenced.
