A man from Texas who fraudulently claimed a massive $1.6 million in coronavirus relief loans from the US government has been sentenced to nine years in prison for his crimes.
The man, who has now been named as Lee Price III, spent the fraudulent money on a series of luxury purchases, namely a Lamborghini.
Price has now been sentenced to 110 months in prison for counts of wire fraud and money laundering, according to the Justice Department.
The 30-year-old reportedly received the huge sum of money from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which was passed by Congress back in March 2020 with the aim of supporting businesses affected by the pandemic.
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But how did Price manage to cheat his way to such a huge sum of money, you may be asking?
Price submitted various PPP applications to different banks around the country, who subsequently approved or denied him.
One of his applications detailed his company Price Enterprises, which had 50 employees and an average monthly payroll of $375,000, according to a criminal complaint.
However, on inspection, Price’s alleged businesses had no recorded employees or revenue.
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At this point, Price had already received a loan of $937,500 which he spent most of in a matter of days.
According to court documents, the loans meant for struggling businesses were spent on a Lamborghini Urus, a Ford F-350 and a Rolex watch. The fraudulent money also went towards trips to the liquor store and a strip club.
Price pleaded guilty without conditions.
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His attorney, Tom Berg, said in an email: "Mr. Price hopes that others will learn from his reckoning that there is no easy money.
"He has the balance of the 110-month sentence to reflect, repent and rebuild his misspent life."
Thankfully, officials have now recovered more than $700,000.
The Paycheck Protection Program made up part of the $2 trillion relief package from the US government that aimed to relieve some of the burden on workers and businesses who had been devastated by Covid.
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Believe it or not, Price is not the first case of fraud related to PPP as more than 120 people have been charged since its beginning and $75 million has been seized back from illegal activity.
Back in March, a fellow Texan man was charged with acquiring $17 million from PPP that he used to buy eight houses and an array of cars, including a convertible Bentley, according to the Department of Justice.
Luxury cars and nice watches – all purchases you would expect, right?
Well, a month later another man was charged with PPP fraud wherein he used the money to purchase an alpaca farm. The case is ongoing.
Featured Image Credit: AlamyTopics: Coronavirus, Money, Cars