CRIME
Fraud
Ex-financial adviser spared prison in Erie federal case over $150,000 COVID-19 fraud
Mercer County resident Martin M. Kobsik, who had worked in Franklin, gets probation for falsely obtaining $150,000 loan and spending it on Alaskan vacation, home addition and other personal expenses.
Ed PalattellaErie Times-News
- Federal government has been fighting pandemic-related financial fraud since it started COVID-19 relief programs in 2020
- One COVID-19 fraud case has been prosecuted in Erie Division of U.S. District Court for Western District of Pennsylvania
- Defendant, Martin M. Kobsik, 42, must pay full restitution and $20,000 fine and spend six months on house arrest as part of sentence of three years of probation
In the spring of 2020, at the start of the pandemic, financial adviser Martin M. Kobsik got a $150,000 COVID-19 federal disaster assistance loan from the Small Business Administration.
But Kobsik did not use the money on his business in northwestern Pennsylvania.
He used it to pay for a vacation to see his sister in Alaska and to fund an addition to his house.