A 30-year-old man from Texas has been sentenced to 9 years and 2 months in prison for fraudulently acquiring more than $ 1.6 million in funds through the government’s coronavirus pandemic Paycheck Protection Program [PPP], the Ministry of Justice announced on Monday. The government said Lee Price III had pleaded guilty in September to fraud and money laundering.
PPP loans were offered until May as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES) to help small businesses financially manage the economic burden of the pandemic. Price, according to authorities, fraudulently submitted loan applications to two different lenders in an attempt to get more than $ 2.6 million.
He was able to acquire more than $ 1.6 million by misrepresenting the number of employees and the salary costs of three different companies. In one of the applications, according to the criminal complaint, Price said that one of the small businesses, Price Enterprises, had 50 employees and an average monthly salary of $ 375,000. Authorities said the company has no employees and no pay and that there is no indication that the company has ever hired anyone.
When he received the money, authorities said, he used the money to buy a Lamborghini Urus, a Ford F-350 and a Rolex watch. He also spent $ 2,000 at a strip club, more than $ 700 at a liquor store, more than $ 2,500 at nightclubs, and used part of the funds to pay off a mortgage on a residential property. The Justice Department said it was able to retrieve over $ 700,000 of the funds he had fraudulently claimed.
According to the criminal indictment, Price received a criminal conviction in 2010 for forgery and in 2011 for robbery. He is also charged in an active criminal case in Texas, where he is accused of manipulating a government record, the complaint states.
More than 160 defendants in more than 95 separate criminal cases have been prosecuted for fraudulently obtained PPP funds since the CARES law was passed, authorities said, adding that they have seized more than $ 75 million in cash.
Li Cohen
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