By Mark Tanos
A former Democratic Virginia state lawmaker who made headlines for disrupting a speech by President Donald Trump was recently sentenced after confessing to defrauding a federal COVID relief program.
A judge sentenced Ibraheem Samirah, 34, Oct. 30 to three years of probation and ordered him to pay $88,000 in restitution after he pleaded guilty to a wire fraud charge, according to FFX Now. The former Democratic delegate secured $83,000 in Paycheck Protection Program funds fraudulently back in May 2020.
Prosecutors said Samirah created fake payroll and tax records, claiming he had four employees at his dental practice, NOVA Healthy Smiles, and backdated the documents to January 2020, The Washington Post reported. Court records showed his practice lacked a current financial account to pay employees until days before he requested the loan. (RELATED: Democratic Florida Rep. Cherfilus-McCormick Under Investigation For Alleged Fraud)
After receiving the money, Samirah moved the funds through accounts belonging to fake employees into his personal bank account, according to court documents. He spent the cash on personal expenses rather than legitimate business costs and later applied to secure forgiveness for the loans in August 2021, the documents said.
“[T]he defendant was stealing federal tax dollars at the same time he was deciding how to spend Virginia tax dollars,” federal prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia wrote.
Samirah told The Washington Post he misunderstood the loan rules and blamed “Donald Trump’s Justice Department” for his prosecution.
The former delegate first secured election to the Virginia House of Delegates in a 2019 special election, then lost to a challenger in 2021, FFX Now reported. He gained national attention in 2019 when he interrupted a Trump speech in Jamestown, holding a “Deport Hate” sign and yelling “Mr. President, you can’t send us back! Virginia is our home!”
Samirah now operates a dental practice in Sterling under a different business name and told The Washington Post he wants to focus his attention on his work. His felony conviction blocks him from voting or pursuing elected office, although Virginia’s Democratic legislature is expected to approve a state constitutional amendment allowing felons to vote.
