Business owner accused of lying to obtain pandemic loan

A previous Massachusetts resident has been charged by prosecutors with fraudulently acquiring $2.5 million in federal reduction resources supposed for businesses struggling for the duration of the coronavirus pandemic and working with the money to acquire automobiles and devote in cryptocurrency.

Vinicius Santana, 34, who utilized to reside in Saugus and now lives in Boca Raton, Florida, was arrested previously this week in Florida and will appear in federal in courtroom in Massachusetts at a foreseeable future date to facial area a cost of wire fraud, according to a statement Wednesday from the U.S. attorney’s business in Boston.

No defense attorney was detailed in court docket information.

Santana submitted four unique Paycheck Protection Method financial loan apps on behalf of his painting business in April 2020, prosecutors claimed.

3, in which he explained he experienced just a handful of personnel and an common regular payroll of no much more than $18,000, had been denied. In the fourth, Santana said he had 154 staff members and an common regular monthly payroll of $1 million. These figures ended up bogus, prosecutors mentioned, but even so, the application was authorised and he received a $2.5 million personal loan.

Santana applied the dollars to invest in a house, fork out off vehicle financial loans and obtain motor vehicles, and to commit in cryptocurrency, prosecutors claimed.

The Paycheck Defense Software presented forgivable loans to compact firms battling throughout the pandemic to be made use of for position retention and specific other permitted expenses.

If convicted, Santana faces up to 20 several years in jail.