Former San Francisco real estate investor must face pandemic relief fraud claims

A federal judge in San Francisco refused to dismiss fraud charges against Luke Brugnara, who is accused of submitting false loan applications and receiving over $400,000 in pandemic-era federal relief. Brugnara argued a 2023 plea deal barred the new charges, but the judge found the record showed the opposite, that the earlier dismissals applied only to his supervised-release case, not future prosecution.

Brugnara, previously convicted of defrauding an art dealer of $11 million, also asked to swap his pretrial detention for an ankle monitor, a loaned $300,000, an Andy Warhol painting, and a relative's property title. The judge denied that too, then had to referee Brugnara's own confusion about whether he wants to represent himself, followed by him demanding she recuse herself for not granting him bail.

Trial is set for October 19, assuming the courtroom can survive the pretrial hearings.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.