An Indian-American tech executive has been arrested and charged on Thursday by the US attorney’s office with forging documents to fraudulently acquire more than $5.5 million in coronavirus relief funds.

Mukund Mohan, 48, a former executive at Amazon and Microsoft, “submitted fake and altered documents, including forged federal tax filings and altered incorporation documents” in support of Paycheque Protection Programme (PPP) applications for six shell companies he owned. Then he transferred some of the money to his brokerage account “for his personal benefit”, the US attorney alleged in its complaint. Mohan could not be reached for comment.

Federal PPP loans are intended to help businesses retain workers during the coronavirus pandemic, the Seattle Times reported.

In the complaint, the authorities alleged that in support of the fraudulent loan applications, Mohan made numerous false and misleading statements about the respective business operations and payroll expenses of the firms.

“Mohan misrepresented to a lender that, in 2019, his company Mahenjo Inc, had dozens of employees and paid millions of dollars in employee wages and payroll taxes,” the complaint said. Mohan submitted documents showing that he incorporated the company in 2018 and filed federal unemployment tax forms for 2019.