The Paycheck Protection Program was set up in 2020 by the US government as a business loan plan to assist businesses during the Covid-19 pandemic. A massive $953 billion was made available for employers so that they could continue to pay employees. That was what the money was supposed to be for. But with that much cash on the line, rolled out relatively fast during one of the most confusing times in human history, things were bound to go sideways and some people used the loans for unintended purposes.
10. Hiring A Hitman
If you’re going to misuse government aid during a pandemic, some believe take the “go hard or go home” approach. No one leaned into that philosophy more than Jasmine Martinez, the owner of a one-woman beauty salon in Florida. Martinez was granted a $15,000 PPP loan in April 2021.
Whether or not Martinez even owned a business is still being looked into, but that’s not the story here, anyway. Though she maintains her innocence, it’s been alleged that Martinez had a real grudge against a TSA agent named Le’Shonte Jones. Why? “Several negative run-ins” was all law enforcement would say on the matter at first. But they were really underselling things since they also alleged that Martinez took $10,000 of that loan and paid a man named Javon Carter to shoot Jones on her own front steps. Her boyfriend supposedly brokered the deal and is also being charged.
Later reports stated that Jones had agreed to testify against Martinez in relation to a separate crime, establishing a clearer motive.
9. The High Life
According to records, Don Cisternino ran a company called MagnifiCo. The consulting firm was established back in 2014, so they must have been marginally successful to last so long, right? Well, records also show that no one worked for the company. But that didn’t stop Cisternino from receiving $7.2 million worth of PPP loans to pay all of those non-existent employees.
With his newfound wealth, Cisternino decided to spend $89,000 on a Lincoln Navigator and $251,00 on a Mercedes-Benz. He also bought a Maserati because a man can never have too many cars. And because he needed to park at least two of them somewhere, he also bought a $3.1 million mansion in Florida.
As part of his deception, he told the government his company had 441 employees and his monthly payroll was $2.88 million. Cisternino tried to flee prosecution to hole up in a country that would offer him asylum. He was arrested in Croatia.
8. A 40-Foot Boat
For a certain group of people, striking it rich means it’s time to buy a boat. A boat is, for many of us, a sort of opulent and unnecessary expense. A true luxury item for anyone who doesn’t make a living on the water. That was arguably the thinking of yet another Florida man who ran a roofing and sheet metal company.
Casey Crowther applied for loans and received $2 million. A couple of days after the money came in, he wired $689,417 to a company for a 40-foot catamaran. Generally, roofers do not use catamarans to get their work done.
If convicted of fraud, Crowther is looking at up to 30 years in prison. Ironically, it seems that he did have a legitimate business with actual employees, but he either embellished how many worked for him or simply kept the money for himself.
7. An Alpaca Farm
Alpaca farming is still relatively uncommon, and it’s also not all that profitable. Apparently only about 15% of alpaca farms in the US turn a profit. But hey, they’re adorable and maybe that’s enough. Especially if you establish the business with fraudulently obtained funds.
Pizza shop owner Dana McIntyre claimed he had 50 employees when he applied for his PPP loan, despite having less than 10. That netted him an impressive $660,000 which he turned around and used to buy a Vermont alpaca farm.
McIntyre also used the names of his adult children to film for loans for businesses that didn’t even exist. He also sold the pizza shop as soon as he got the largest loan, ensuring he had a solid nest egg to get into that alpaca business. This was just the latest in a long history of grifts that McIntyre has been accused of that include a green roofing business and a home improvement endeavor.
6. Love and Hip Hop Fraud
The show Love and Hip Hop has featured a number of big names in the hip hop world, most notably Cardi B as she rose to fame. It has also featured some lesser known names like Maurice Fayne. Fayne didn’t have the success that Cardi B did so maybe that’s why he had to rely on PPP loan fraud to get by.
Fayne received $2 million in loans. It was alleged he put $1.5 million of that into jewelry, a car and even child support payments. The truth was a little more complex. He was actually running a Ponzi scheme, getting people to invest in a trucking business and using that money to pay for his lavish lifestyle and personal debts. Then he applied for the loan and used it to pay back some of the people he’d already ripped off.
In September 2021, Fayne was sentenced to 17 years in prison for the scam.
5. Lambos, Lambos, Lambos
Interested in a 2022 Lamborghini Aventador? If you pony up about $464,000 on the low end of the scale, it can be yours. They can get up over $700,000, though. But hey, you’re getting a Lamborghini here. This is one of the most famous and desired luxury sports cars in the world. A Lamborghini embodies opulence. Just look at how many people keep committing PPP loan fraud to buy them.
David Tyler Hines got $4 million in PPP loans in 2020. He used the money to pay for clothes, vacations and even dating sites. He also dropped $318,000 on a Lamborghini Huracán Evo.
Mustafa Qadiri got $5.1 million in PPP loans. He claimed to be running four companies, none of which were real. When he got his money, he also spent it on things like vacations and the highlife. And, of course, a Lamborghini Aventador.
Not to be outdone, Lee Price III got $1.6 million in loans for companies that no one worked for. One of them had been real, but the CEO had died before the loan application even went through. Price spent his money on a Rolex and a Lamborghini Urus, as well as several thousand dollars at strip clubs in Houston.
4. Over 15,000 Tesla Shares
Elon Musk is the richest man on Earth, and Tesla stock is a hot commodity. For some people, it seems like a surefire ticket to wealth. That’s what Andrew Aaron Lloyd thought. The problem is that Tesla stock doesn’t come cheap. Starting in early 2020, it began to rise and has gone up close to $800 in two years. Lucky for Lloyd, he managed to get $3.4 million in PPP loans.
Lloyd put $1.8 million of that into 15,700 shares of Tesla stock while it was on that meteoric rise. It increased in value to $13 million. He also snagged upwards of 25 rental properties around the same time.
Authorities figured out something was wrong when they discovered he’d applied for nine loans and used the same employee information on every single one. By the time his stock was seized, it was estimated he had around $16.3 million plus cash totalling $18 million. He was sentenced to 4 years in prison.
3. Mayor Fraud
The town of Stonecrest, Georgia, has only existed since 2016 when residents voted to officially incorporate the area as a real town. It has a population of under 60,000 and Jason Lary, an insurance exec and concert promoter was voted its very first mayor.
Fast forward to the pandemic and the town was given $6.2 million in relief funds. This seems entirely reasonable as the town was real and clearly must have had a number of employees who’d need aid during Covid.
With the aid of a bookkeeper, Lary diverted funds meant for the town to pay his own expenses. This included paying his mortgage and taxes. The money was supposed to be divided up for both mask distribution and small business loans. Lary himself oversaw the program, however, and most loan applications within town were rejected.
In April 2021, Lary denied wrongdoing and said if anything had gone astray, it was unintentional as he was just trying to help people. By January 2022 he had pleaded guilty to fraud charges and admitted he diverted $650,000 by forcing loan recipients to kick back a portion of the money they were given to businesses that he controlled.
2. Plastic Surgery
Buying needless luxury items is what most people who defrauded the loan program seemed to do, but some people opted to go in on some personal improvement. Toni Wright of Cincinnati was one of those people. Which isn’t to say she didn’t also enrich herself with needless luxury items, because she did that in spades as well.
According to court filings, Wright received $349,000 in loans after claiming to run three separate businesses, including a nail salon, an electronics business, and a doula service. She used the same employer numbers for more than one filing and kept filing after she had been initially denied until it paid off.
She spent the money on a host of items ranging from Louis Vuitton to Kay Jewelers, airline tickets and a trip to King’s Island amusement park. She also dropped some of it on Door Dash, but one of her biggest expenditures was at Sono Bello, where she seems to have indulged in either liposuction or body contouring for $10,000.
1. An Elijah Wood Movie
Allison Baver is a former Olympian speed skater. She competed in 2006 and 2010. She was later elected Vice President of the US Olympian and Paralympian Association and has been involved in various charitable organizations as well. She’s also a hell of a scam artist.
Baver received $10 million in PPP loans. The money was to pay the salaries of the over 400 employees of Allison Baver Entertainment, which had a monthly payroll of $4 million according to her application. The truth, however, was that she had no employees at all.The address listed for the company was her residential address. If it had been a real business, registered in Utah as it was alleged, it actually would have been one of the larger single companies in the state. The fact no one had ever heard of it made some people suspicious.
Ironically, Baver ended up filing a defamation lawsuit in July 2021 against the Salt Lake newspaper that initially broke the story. Within two months of that, her lawyer quit, and no progress was made on the suit.
A relatively small $150,000 of the money was used for the production of the Elijah Wood movie No Man of God, about Ted Bundy. Baver has a small role in the film, which shows that money can open doors for you. Baver pleaded not guilty to the charges but faces upwards of 40 years in prison if she’s convicted.