Case 2:23-cr-00095-FMO

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2:23-mj-00545-DUTY
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AFFIDAVIT
I, Billie J. Bender, being duly sworn, declare and state as

follows:

PURPOSE OF AFFIDAVIT

1. This affidavit is made in support of (1) a criminal

complaint against Cole Matthew Harris (“HARRIS”); Robert Douglas

Spiro Jr. (“SPIRO”); Cindy Chen (“CHEN”), also known as “Chen

Ying” and “Meila Chen”; and Yao Lu (“LU”) and (2) arrest

warrants against HARRIS, CHEN, and LU for conspiracies to make

false statements to a government agency, in violation of

Title 18, United States Code, Sections 371, 1001.1

2. The facts set forth in this affidavit are based upon

my personal observations, my training and experience, and

information obtained from various law enforcement personnel and

witnesses. This affidavit is intended to show merely that there

is sufficient probable cause for the requested complaint and

arrest warrants, and does not purport to set forth all of my

knowledge of or investigation into this matter. Unless

specifically indicated otherwise, all conversations and

1 On February 2, 2023, I learned that, earlier that day,

SPIRO purchased a ticket to fly from Los Angeles, California, to
Dubai on the following day. I suspected that SPIRO might be
attempting to flee from prosecution because: (1) based on my
knowledge of this investigation, I knew that SPIRO was aware
that his conduct was being investigated by the Federal Bureau of
Investigation; and (2) SPIRO purchased his ticket the day before
his flight was scheduled to depart. On February 3, 2023,
investigators executed a probable cause arrest of SPIRO at Los
Angeles International Airport. Accordingly, because SPIRO is in
custody, I seek arrest warrants only against HARRIS, CHEN, and
LU.

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statements described in this affidavit are related in substance

and part only.

BACKGROUND OF BILLIE J. BENDER

3. I am a Special Agent for the Federal Bureau of

Investigation (“FBI”) and have been so employed since January

2015. As such, I am an investigative or law enforcement officer

of the United States within the meaning of 18 U.S.C. § 2510(7).

I am therefore empowered to conduct investigations of, and to

make arrests and serve warrants for, offenses enumerated in

18 U.S.C. §§ 2516, 3052 and 3107.

4. I have received training at the FBI Academy in

Quantico, Virginia and have gained experience on the field. As

a result, I am familiar with financial investigations,

surveillance, interviewing, and other investigative techniques.

My training and experience, as well as conversations I have had

with other agents and law enforcement officers who specialize in

fraud and money laundering investigations, have familiarized me

with the many methods of operation that money launderers and

fraudsters employ.

5. I am currently assigned to a squad that investigates

money laundering and fraud, amongst other federal crimes.

Previously, I served as an FBI Special Agent investigating

large-scale narcotics trafficking and international money

laundering. In my experience, I have conducted investigations

using wiretaps, confidential sources, and sophisticated

undercover platforms. Additionally, I have participated in

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numerous search warrants of physical premises, emails, cloud-

based storage systems, and electronic devices. Prior to

becoming a Special Agent, I was an Intelligence Analyst

assisting the FBI on fraud against the government and public

corruption investigations in New York City from 2012 to 2015.

SUMMARY OF PROBABLE CAUSE

6. Beginning on an unknown date and continuing until at

least February 2021, there were agreements between HARRIS,

SPIRO, and LU and again among HARRIS, SPIRO, LU, and CHEN to

make false statements to the Small Business Administration

(“SBA”)2 regarding Deja LLC (“Deja”) and Emergency Response

Nursing (“ERN”). HARRIS, SPIRO, and LU and HARRIS, SPIRO, CHEN,

and LU became members of conspiracies involving Deja and ERN,

respectively, knowing of at least one of the objects -- namely,

fraudulently obtaining Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) loans

backed by the SBA -- and intending to help accomplish it. The

conspiracies involving Deja and ERN were operated and carried

out, in substance, in the following manner: (1) one or more co-

conspirators would willfully and deliberately apply for a PPP

loan, with knowledge that the application contained untrue

statements and that such conduct was unlawful; and (2) one or

more co-conspirators would prepare writings containing false

2 The SBA’s website describes the Paycheck Protection

Program as “[a]n SBA-backed loan that helps businesses keep
their workforce employed during the COVID-19 crisis.” See
“Paycheck Protection Program,” available at
https://www.sba.gov/funding-programs/loans/covid-19-relief-
options/paycheck-protection-program (last accessed February 3,
2023). Accordingly, I believe that the Deja and ERN PPP loans
were matters within the jurisdiction of the SBA.

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statements to be submitted as part of the application for PPP

loans.

STATEMENT OF PROBABLE CAUSE

7. Based on my review of law enforcement reports,

conversations with other law enforcement agents, and my own

knowledge of the investigation, I am aware of the following:

A. The Deja Application

8. Records from Sunwest Bank reflect that, on or about

April 28, 2020, a PPP Borrower Application Form -- namely, SBA

Form 2483 -- for Deja (the “Deja Application”) was submitted

through Sunwest Bank, an authorized lender. The Deja

Application reflected that: (1) HARRIS electronically signed the

Deja Application; (2) HARRIS was the “managing member” and “100

percent owner” of Deja; (3) Deja had 306 employees; and (4) Deja

had an average monthly payroll cost of $1,041,737.

9. I have reviewed the subsequent PPP loan agreement

between Sunwest Bank and Deja, which states in pertinent part:

“the Borrower will provide to the Lender documentation verifying

the number of full-time equivalent employees on the Borrower’s

payroll as well as the dollar amounts of payroll costs[.]” I

have also reviewed five IRS Form 941s (Employer Quarterly Tax

Returns) that were submitted with the Deja Application, and they

reflected that: (1) Deja had between 302 employees and 400

employees between April 2019 and September 2020; and (2) Deja

paid quarterly “wages, tips, and other compensation” between

$2,539,696 and $3,197,387 during this time period.

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10. However, records from the California Franchise Tax

Board show that Deja reported paying zero dollars ($0) in

salaries and wages, and zero dollars ($0) in taxable income for

both 2019 and 2020. Records from the California Franchise Tax

Board also reflect that: (1) HARRIS was listed as the “sole

owner” of Deja; and (2) HARRIS signed the 2019 CA Limited

Liability Company Tax Form 568 on October 3, 2021, indicating

the tax form was completed accurately.

11. Accordingly, based on my knowledge of this

investigation, I believe that: (1) Deja was a shell company

without active business operations; and (2) HARRIS or a co-

conspirator willfully and deliberately submitted the Deja

Application, with knowledge both that the Deja Application

contained untrue statements -- including false statements about

the number of Deja employees and the amount of Deja’s average

monthly payroll -- and that his or her conduct was unlawful.

12. Records from Sunwest Bank show that Sunwest Bank

obtained an SBA-secured loan of $2,604,300 on behalf of Deja,

which was approved on or about April 30, 2020, and deposited

into a Sunwest Bank account controlled by HARRIS on or about

May 12, 2020.

B. Communications Between Co-Conspirators Around the Time

of the Deja Application

13. In the course of this investigation, investigators

obtained multiple federal search warrants and seized

communications between HARRIS and SPIRO. I have reviewed these

communications, including the following messages that were sent

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at or near the date that the Deja Application was submitted and

the PPP loan was received:3

a. On April 24, 2020, SPIRO sent HARRIS a message

via WeChat, a messaging application, which stated: “Right now

$5m for our friends & 2m for your loan ... Let’s talk tomorrow.

We could easily do like $20mm . . . We have it all down. Full

process. You should listen in. You’ll be on the ground.”

b. On April 29, 2020, SPIRO sent HARRIS a message

via WeChat: “I just need 2 ID’s & Socials. I am so upset. We got

you $2.6 mm & Bompton fucked us for $7mm[.]” HARRIS responded,

“That’s Yao Fucking guy.” SPIRO stated: “I’m beyond myself. We

have $7mm free money teed up. How do you fuck that up. If you

get me 2 names I can get $4-5mm done tomorrow. I’m sending the 3

others to other banks tomorrow.”

c. On or about May 8, 2020, HARRIS sent a screenshot

of an email to SPIRO using the WhatsApp messaging application.

The email subject was “Deja LLC,” the sender’s email address was

“[email protected],” and the recipient was

“ @sunwest.com.” The email stated, in part: “Thank you

for all your help getting this approved. Yao asked me to send

you more information on Deja, LLC.” SPIRO later replied:

“Perfect” and “I’m worried we’re going to loose [sic] the other

ones if we don’t find him.” Later, on the same day, SPIRO

3 Some of the communications discussed in this affidavit

were seized from a cellular telephone belonging to SPIRO that
was seized during the execution of a federal search warrant.
After seizing SPIRO’s cellular telephone, investigators asked
SPIRO whether he wanted any contact information from his phone,
and SPIRO voluntarily provided his passcode.

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stated: “He wants me to bring payment for all three loans & I

can’t tell him Yao is MIA,” and “But we have NO way to access

the other ones without Yao.”

d. Based on my knowledge of this investigation, I

believe that: (1) “Yao” is a reference to LU; and (2) these

communications show that HARRIS conspired with SPIRO and LU to

make false statements in the Deja Application.

C. The ERN Application

14. I have reviewed additional records from Sunwest Bank

that show that on or about February 2, 2021, Jie Lin (“Lin”)4

electronically signed an application for a PPP loan for ERN (the

“ERN Application”) in the amount of $1,150,822 from Sunwest

Bank. Although the ERN Application reflects that it was

electronically signed by Lin, records from Charter

Communications reflect that the IP address used to submit the

ERN Application -- namely, IP address 23.243.250.169 -- was

subscribed to HARRIS, with email addresses

[email protected] and [email protected], and with

a service address that I believe is the residence of HARRIS and

CHEN based on, among other things, physical surveillance and

driver license records for HARRIS and CHEN from the California

Department of Motor Vehicles.

4 In July 2021, Lin and others were indicted in the Southern

District of New York with conspiracy to commit money laundering
in a separate investigation.

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15. The ERN Application claimed that: (1) ERN had

139 employees and (2) ERN’s primary business address was

1055 Colorado Blvd., Ste 500, Pasadena, California.

16. I have reviewed four IRS Form 941s (Employer Quarterly

Federal Tax Returns), which purportedly reflected the full year

of 2019. These forms were submitted with the ERN Application,

and they reflected that: (1) ERN had between 137 and 145

employees in 2019; and (2) ERN paid approximately $4,727,084 in

“wages, tips, or other compensation” to these employees in 2019.

However, records from the California Franchise Tax Board reflect

that ERN did not report any payroll taxes or file any business

license or registration forms since at least January 2019.

17. Furthermore, the four Employer’s Quarterly Federal Tax

Returns reflected that the address for ERN was 1968 S. Coast

Hwy, Ste. 2398, Laguna Beach, California. However, a Google.com

search showed that this address was the location of a “virtual

mailbox” service used for collecting mail for entities.

18. Accordingly, based on my knowledge of this

investigation, I believe that: (1) ERN was a shell company

without active business operations; and (2) HARRIS, CHEN or a

co-conspirator willfully and deliberately submitted the ERN

Application from the residence of HARRIS and CHEN, with

knowledge that the ERN Application contained untrue statements

-- including false statements about the number of ERN employees

and the amount of ERN’s average monthly payroll -- and that such

conduct was unlawful.

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19. The records from Sunwest Bank show that, Sunwest Bank

obtained an SBA-secured loan of $1,150,822 on behalf of ERN,

which was deposited into a Sunwest Bank account purportedly

controlled by Lin.

20. Because I believe that both Deja and ERN were shell

companies without active business operations, I believe that the

false statements in the Deja Application and the ERN Application

were material to the activities and decisions of the SBA; they

had a natural tendency to influence, or were capable of

influencing, the agency’s decisions or activities.

D. Communications Between Co-Conspirators Around the Time

of the ERN Application

21. As discussed above, in the course of this

investigation, investigators obtained multiple federal search

warrants and seized communications.5 I have reviewed these

communications, which include the following:

a. On or about July 31, 2020, LU sent SPIRO a PDF

using WeChat titled

5Based on reports and information from other investigators,

I am aware that, in October 2022, during the execution of one of
the federal search warrants, investigators seized, among other
things, a cellular telephone belonging to CHEN (“CHEN’s
Telephone”). An investigator saw that CHEN’s Telephone had an
icon for WeChat. An investigator placed CHEN’s Telephone on a
table along with other evidence for processing. An investigator
told CHEN that CHEN’s Telephone was being seized. CHEN later
surreptitiously took CHEN’s Telephone from that table and drove
away. Once investigators realized that CHEN had departed with
CHEN’s Telephone, an investigator went to a nearby school, found
CHEN in her car, and retrieved CHEN’s Telephone from her.
During a later search of CHEN’s Telephone, an investigator saw
that the WeChat icon was no longer visible. Accordingly, I
believe that CHEN attempted to delete the WeChat application,
and CHEN’s attempt removed the icon from CHEN’s Telephone but
did not successfully uninstall the application.

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“Citi_Small_Business_Loan_Application_2483_Doc.pdf.” The

document is a PPP loan application for ERN that lists “Jie Lin”

as the Chief Executive Officer and signatory. Based on my

knowledge of this investigation, I believe that this

communication shows LU and SPIRO’s involvement in making false

statements to the SBA about ERN.

b. On or about September 25, 2020, SPIRO and HARRIS

communicated over WhatsApp. In their WhatsApp conversation on

September 25, 2020, HARRIS texted “Yao [LU] not answering,” to

which SPIRO replied “WTF? Which is that for? He said he’s been

checking every day.” HARRIS then went on to text “Bro. Check

WeChat group text. He answered there.” “So they need tax

return, bank statements, and a voided check.” HARRIS then

messaged SPIRO a picture of an email addressed to

[email protected] from a representative of Lendio (another

SBA approved PPP lender). In the picture, a representative from

Lendio wrote to the user of the [email protected] email

account that the additional PPP requirements included 2019

business tax returns, a “voided check,” and January 2020 and

February 2020 bank statements.

c. Also, on or about September 25, 2020, in a WeChat

group chat that included HARRIS, SPIRO, LU and CHEN, CHEN wrote:

“Yao, which email did you use for er nursing?” In the same

group chat, LU wrote: “They need tax returns, bank statements,

and a voided check” and “Should I reply with email or text[.]”

CHEN responded: “Can u make them and send to her?” That same

day, in the same WeChat group chat, LU asked the group to send

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bank statements to the email account “[email protected].” 6

CHEN wrote: “You have the tax return right?” LU responded: “We

have the voided check, need to make the rest.” CHEN responded,

“So tax returns and bank statements[?]” LU responded, “Yes”.

Based on my training and experience relating to COVID-19 relief

fraud schemes, I believe that these communications show that

CHEN asked LU to make fake tax returns, bank statements, and/or

a voided check for ERN for the purpose of making false

statements to the SBA.

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6A signature card for a Sunwest Bank business checking

account ending in -8442 reflects that Lin was the signatory on
the account and his email was “[email protected].”

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