A Bakersfield dentist who pleaded guilty Monday to stealing half a million dollars in COVID-19 relief money from the federal government has agreed to pay back the full amount, according to federal prosecutors.
Ranjan Rajbanshi, 46, who also has offices in Santa Barbara, received more than $850,000 from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Small Business Administration, the U.S Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District reported. Rajbanshi indicated the funds would go for business purposes, but instead he used it for personal expenditures, a news release added.
Rajbanshi’s attorney noted her client made a “common mistake” of investing the funds intended for his business. He pleaded guilty to one charge of embezzling government property.
“He is paying the money back and glad to be making things right,” Sacramento-based defense attorney Candice L. Fields said by email. She specializes in defending people facing federal white collar charges.
Lauren Horwood, spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Eastern District, did not answer questions about what, specifically, Rajbanshi did with the $500,000.
A call to Rajbanshi’s business in Bakersfield was not returned Monday.
The defendant applied for more than $850,000 in COVID-19 relief money between about April 2020 and February 2022. Rajbanshi stated the funds would be used for “business purposes” such as facility costs, payroll and protective equipment for himself and staff members, a document from the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Rajbanshi’s application for the money was approved based on his representations and deposited into his bank account in Bakersfield, federal prosecutors added.
Then, “while knowing that he was not allowed to use the money this way and that it was wrong for him to do,” Rajbanshi used the money for expenditures such as investments, the document added.
The $500,000 must be paid on or before his sentencing scheduled for Dec. 4, according to his plea agreement.
Rajbanshi faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release, according to the plea agreement.
