Lee County man pleads guilty to $414,000 COVID fraud

Thakur Sukhdeo, a 40-year-old Lehigh Acres man, has admitted to defrauding the U.S. Small Business Administration in a COVID-relief scam.

Sukhdeo has pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud and two counts of illegal monetary transactions. He faces up to 20 years in federal prison for each wire fraud count, and up to 10 years for each illegal monetary transaction count.

According to a statement Wednesday from U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida Gregory W. Kehoe, Sukhdeo has also agreed to forfeit $413,900.

Sukhdeo was charged in October 2024. Prosecutors alleged at the time he “engaged in a scheme to defraud” the SBA by misrepresenting on loan documents what the funds from Economic Injury Disaster Loan would be used for.

According to the U.S. Department statement and a copy of the indictment, Sukhdeo reported on the application that his handyman company made $206,998 in 2019. Bank records, though, showed the real amount that year was $19,843.50

The SBA, basing its decision on the information provided, on March 24, 2022, deposited $413,900 into an account for J.R. Handyman Pro’s LLC, where Sukhdeo was the only signatory.

Despite promising to use the EIDL funds only for business expenses, on April 12, 20222, he spent $68,984.61 on a 2018 Jaguar F-Pace SUV and on April 21, 2022, spent $93,994.42 on a 2020 GMC Sierra 3500 heavy duty truck. Sukhdeo also made cash withdrawals totaling $172,505 as well as other personal purchases, authorities alleged. 

Sukhdeo, the Justice Department says in the statement, spent all the money within a year.

The case is part of a long-running crackdown on COVID-relief fraud run by a federal task force made up of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida’s criminal, asset recovery, appellate and civil divisions, along with federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies.

The FBI investigated the case and Assistant United States Attorney Matthew Redavid prosecuted it. Assistant U.S. Attorney Suzanne Nebesky is handling the forfeiture.