US man sentenced to six years’ jail after pleading guilty to US$3.9m wire fraud, used money to buy US$318,000 Lamborghini
KUALA LUMPUR, May 17 — A Florida man has been sentenced to six years’ jail for fraudulently obtaining US$3.9 million (RM16.56 million) in Paycheck Protection Programme (PPP) loans.
He also used part of those funds to purchase a US$318,000 (RM1.31 million) Lamborghini luxury car for himself.
In a statement posted by the US Department of Justice, David T. Hines, 29, had pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud on February 10.
Court documents found the Miami native had submitted multiple PPP applications to a PPP-participating lender, claiming to have had dozens of employees and millions of dollars in monthly payroll.
“In addition to submitting false and fraudulent IRS forms to support the applications, Hines also assisted other individuals in obtaining fraudulent PPP loans.”
“As part of the sentence, the court ordered Hines to forfeit the US$3.4 million in fraudulent loan proceeds that law enforcement seized and the 2020 Lamborghini Huracan that Hines purchased for approximately US$318,000.”
The statement added that the PPP allows qualifying small businesses and other organisations to receive loans with a maturity of two years and an interest rate of one per cent.
Businesses must use PPP loan proceeds for payroll costs, interest on mortgages, rent and utilities.
The PPP allows the interest and principal to be forgiven if businesses spend the proceeds on these expenses within a set time period and use at least a certain percentage of the loan towards payroll expenses.
It was previously reported that Hines was charged with one count of bank fraud, one count of making false statements to a financial institution and one count of engaging in transactions in unlawful proceeds.
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