A Southfield doctor was convicted of bank fraud Thursday by a federal jury, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Detroit.

Dr. Reginald Eburuche was found guilty of fraudulently obtaining a Paycheck Protection Program loan in July 2020, during the height of the coronavirus pandemic. The loan was obtained for his start-up business, Renovis Healthcare.

The U.S. Department of Justice said in a Friday news release that Eburuche used the loan, $1.7 million at 1% interest, as seed funding for the business. He had been unsuccessful in obtaining credit for the business venture in 2019.

Eburuche "grossly inflated the number of employees and the average monthly payroll for his fledgling company" in order to obtain the PPP loan, the DOJ said. He also created and submitted fraudulent tax documents that were made to support his stated headcount and salary expenditures, according to federal prosecutors.

"A large portion of the funds were frozen and seized in advance of trial," the U.S. Attorney's Office in Detroit said in a statement.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Carl D. Gilmer-Hill prosecuted the case. The Small Business Administration and the Treasury Department's inspector general for tax administration supported investigators from the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

"When a licensed professional chooses fraud over integrity, the harm runs deeper than dollars," Jerome F. Gorgon, the interim U.S. attorney in Detroit, said in a statement. "Dr. Eburuche stole money meant to keep workers afloat during a time of crisis. This office will continue to pursue those who exploited these programs for personal gain."