A Culver City restauranteur who owns a hospitality company with restaurants and hotels in California, Tennessee and Kentucky was sentenced on May 28 to 41 months in federal prison for fraudulently obtaining more than $4 million COVID-19 economic-relief loans.

Philip Frederick Camino, 46, was also ordered to pay $4.3 million in restitution. Camino, who pleaded guilty in August 2024 to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, was immediately remanded into federal custody.

During spring 2020, Camino, who formerly owned companies based in Hollywood, Westwood, Studio City and Beverly Hills as well as in Arizona, submitted fraudulent applications to the United States Small Business Administration and banks for PPP and EIDL loans, authorities said. In the applications, Camino made false statements, including inflating the number of employees, providing fictitious federal tax forms and falsely certifying that loans would be used for permissible business purposes, authorities said.