A man was arrested Tuesday in New York for using the identity of 90 stars to invent employees. His method allowed him to recover $ 3 million in aid to small businesses, with which he bought himself, among others, a Mercedes and a Rolex.
The 24-year-old did have a company, but it employed only 14 people, according to a Justice Department statement. To increase its workforce, and receive more money paid by the US government as part of the plan to support the economy during the coronavirus pandemic, he used the identity of 90 actors, sportsmen and public figures.
Rent of $ 17,000
These "loans" include a host of the famous TV show Good Morning America, a former National Football League player, and a now deceased coach of the Penn State University football team - university from which the accused is also a graduate.
He thus made requests for loans to the tune of $ 7 million, of which $ 3.7 million were accepted and $ 2.8 million actually paid. With that money, he rented a luxury apartment for $ 17,000 a month, bought himself a Mercedes for $ 80,000, and an 18-karat gold Rolex watch for $ 40,000.
"Serial" fraudster
He also spent $ 37,000 at luxury houses Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Burberry, Gucci, Christian Louboutin, and Yves Saint-Laurent, and transferred $ 880,000 to accounts in Taiwan, the UK, South Korea and in Singapore.
This Taiwanese, who had arrived in the United States on a student visa and nicknamed himself the "serial entrepreneur", must be presented to a judge during the day. These loans were set up by the federal government to help SMEs continue to pay their employees despite the Covid-19 crisis, and can then be turned into a grant.
In early August, a resident of Texas was arrested for a similar fraud, with which he also bought a Rolex, but also a Lamborghini at $ 200,000.
World
United States: Fugitive found by FBI after 46 years of escape
By the Web
Caf fraud: A couple betrayed by their Facebook posts
- Fraud
- World
- Coronavirus
- United States