California: Elk Grove Man Convicted After Gambling $442,000 of a COVID Disaster Loan at Casinos

A federal jury in Sacramento has convicted an Elk Grove, California, man of wire fraud after prosecutors said he gambled more than $442,000 of a COVID-19 disaster loan at casinos instead of spending it on his business, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California said on October 7, 2026.

Oleg Gregorvich Fursov, 52, was found guilty of one count of wire fraud after a three-day trial. He faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, and U.S. District Judge Daniel J. Calabretta set sentencing for January 14, 2027.

From a $150,000 loan to more than $1 million

The indictment, returned in August 2025, lays out how the loan grew. Fursov owned Fresh Air Comfort LLC, a heating, ventilation and air conditioning company incorporated in Sacramento, it says. According to the indictment:

• On or about April 15, 2020, he applied for an Economic Injury Disaster Loan from the U.S. Small Business Administration for the company. It was approved and paid out on or about June 18, 2020. At the time, the maximum for such loans was $150,000.
• In September 2021, the SBA raised the maximum to $2 million and let borrowers ask to increase existing loans. In or about December 2021, Fursov learned of the change.
• On or about January 20, 2022, he signed amended loan papers certifying he would use the money “solely as working capital to alleviate economic injury” and that no fees had been paid to anyone for helping with the loan. The SBA approved the increase the same day and funded it on or about January 25, 2022.
• From November 21, 2022, to May 2023, the SBA tried to reach him about repayment. He “avoided all contact,” the indictment says.

Where prosecutors say the money went

According to the evidence at trial, as described by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Fursov gambled more than $442,000 of the $1 million loan at casinos and paid $100,000 as an unauthorized kickback to a person who helped with the application. By the time he applied for the larger loan, prosecutors say, he had already received and gambled tens of thousands of dollars of other COVID-era business loans, including Paycheck Protection Program loans and the earlier $150,000 disaster loan.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office did not name the casinos.

The case in court

The indictment was filed under seal on August 14, 2025, and a magistrate judge ordered his release from custody on August 22, 2025, the federal docket shows. After several continuances, the jury trial was set for October 5, 2026.

The FBI investigated the case as part of the California COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Strike Force. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Dhruv Sharma, Zachary Malinski and Jessica Delaney are prosecuting it.