Oregon Restaurant Owner Pleads Guilty After Spending $200,000 of COVID Loan on Parents’ Home

A Tigard businessman who spent the bulk of a Small Business Administration (SBA) loan on his parents, and who has subsequently repaid the loan in full, faces 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

According to the Oregon District U.S. Attorney’s Office, Bryan Ochoa Diaz (32), pleaded guilty yesterday to a charge of money laundering related to a $350,000 government loan issued to his family-owned restaurant, the Casa Colima, in the Portland metropolitan district.

Court documents reveal that the SBA granted a $350,000 loan to the restaurant as part of a COVID relief program.

The loan was granted on the condition that the funds be used solely as working capital for the company to alleviate economic injury caused by the pandemic. It also stipulated that none of the funds could be used primarily for personal, family, or household purposes.

He Transferred a Total of $200,000 into His Parents’ Bank and Mortgage Loan Accounts

The SBA transferred $350,000 into Casa Colima’s bank account on August 16, 2021, and the following day, Ochoa Diaz transferred $100,000 into a personal bank account held by his parents. Later that same day, he wired another $100,000 into a mortgage on his parents’ home.

Ochoa Diaz, who is a reserve officer with the U.S. Coast Guard, originally pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering on September 5, 2025, after waiving indictment by a grand jury. He has also repaid $350,000 in full restitution to the SBA.

He now faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentencing is scheduled for December 15, 2025, before a U.S. District Court Judge.