<!-- Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ --></p> <p>from <a href=""https://calmatters.org/author/adam-ashton/"" title=""Posts" by="" adam="" ashton="" class=""author" url="" fn="" rel=""author"">Adam Ashton</a>CalMatters</p> <p>This story was originally published by <a href=""https://calmatters.org/"">CalMatters</a>. <a href=""https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/"">Sign up</a> for their newsletters.</p> <p>Three years ago, a federal jury threw out the book on a man who allegedly ran a $1 million COVID fraud scheme while running a rehabilitation home for state parolees. </p> <p>He was sentenced to 17 years in prison. </p> <p>Attila Kolar’s conviction fell apart this week when the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals found that the judge in the case was allowed <a href=""https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2026/07/21/24-396.pdf"">a juror with a disqualifying bias</a> to participate in the legal process.</p> <p>CalMatters <a href=""https://calmatters.org/justice/2023/09/california-rehab-covid-fraud-conviction/"">revealed the operation in the Kolar Bay area</a>called All Hands on Deck, in a 2023 investigation of parole rehabilitation programs. The investigation showed that California spent <a href=""https://calmatters.org/justice/2023/07/california-prisoner-rehabilitation-centers/"">hundreds of millions of dollars</a> in the programs, but could not say whether they helped anyone find a job or stay away from crime.</p> <p>It was a driver <a href=""https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndca/pr/ceo-company-providing-homes-parolees-and-probationers-sentenced-17-years-prison-bank"">convicted of 44 felonies</a> for defrauding the Wage Protection Program and attempting to obstruct a federal investigation. </p> <p>Kolar, who is black and Muslim, represented himself during parts of his trial. He asked jurors if they believed “law enforcement has a history of persecuting black religious organizations,” according to the 9th Circuit. Kolar also made statements to prospective jurors suggesting he believed he had been unfairly targeted by law enforcement.</p> <p>One juror reacted negatively to these statements, saying that when Kolar spoke, “all that came out was discrimination, conspiracy theories and police corruption.” The juror told the judge he could be impartial and had his own personal experience of discrimination, but expressed strong skepticism about Kolar’s claims of bias and police corruption.</p> <p>Kolar objected to the juror’s participation, but the judge allowed him to remain. Three weeks later, the jury returned its guilty verdict. </p> <p>The 9th Circuit found that the juror who responded to Colar’s discrimination claim should have been removed. The Court of Appeal noted that the man’s views were “rooted in his personal experience and emotion and he made it clear to the court that he would not be able to set them aside”.</p> <p>The 9th Circuit order allows prosecutors to retry Kolar. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for Northern California has not yet responded to a request for comment on the decision. </p> <p>This article was <a href=""https://calmatters.org/justice/2026/07/covid-fraud-conviction-overturned/"">originally published on CalMatters</a> and is republished under <a href=""https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/"">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives</a> license.</p> <p> Copy the HTML
