A Gaithersburg man changed course on the first day of his federal trial, pleading guilty to bank fraud tied to fraudulent COVID-19 relief loans and admitting he tried to obstruct a grand jury investigation.
Eric Tano Tataw, 39, pled guilty in federal court to bank fraud involving multiple Paycheck Protection Program loans connected to his company, National Telegraph, LLC. He also admitted to attempting to obstruct justice by providing fabricated documents to a subpoenaed witness and instructing her to present them to a federal grand jury.
According to prosecutors, Tataw carried out the fraud scheme between April 2020 and May 2021, targeting both a financial institution and the U.S. Small Business Administration. He sought two PPP loans by inflating employee counts and payroll figures, and by submitting false earnings statements for individuals who did not work for the company…