A Brooklyn man on Thursday was indicted for allegedly stealing COVID-19 relief funds and submitting fraudulent election petitions to appear on the 2024 Democratic primary ballot for U.S. Senate.
The defendant was identified by Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez and New York Attorney Letitia James as Khaled Salem, 53, of Bay Ridge. He is charged in a 60-count indictment with second-degree grand larceny, first-degree offering a false instrument for filing, second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument, second- and third-degree identity theft and a violation of New York State Election Law.
Salem allegedly first applied for a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan on April 6, 2020, for American Human Rights, Inc., a nonprofit organization he incorporated in 2019. The defendant received a $104,166 PPP loan on March 15, 2021. The defendant later applied for loan forgiveness claiming that the required amount of loan proceeds was used for payroll costs. The loan application and loan forgiveness application allegedly included false representations about payroll and listed employees who never worked for or were associated with AHR.
Separately, on April 2024, Salem allegedly submitted a 12-volume, 5,900 page petition to the New York State Board of Elections, seeking to qualify for the Democratic primary ballot. According to the petition, three subscribing witnesses collected approximately 30,000 signatures across the state over a 20-day period.
Those subscribing witnesses, however, allegedly denied collecting any signatures for defendant or his campaign, the investigation found. The petition is also alleged to have included forged names, fake addresses and false witness signatures. Ultimately, the defendant was not placed on the ballot.
“The defendant allegedly defrauded a critical pandemic relief program and attempted to deceive voters through a fraudulent election petition," Gonzalez said in a statement. "Misusing public funds intended to help small businesses recover, and fabricating support to appear on the ballot, are serious allegations that reflect a troubling disregard for the law and public trust."
