US authorities have sentenced Oregon resident Andrew Lloyd to 4 years in jail for stealing millions of dollars in COVID-19 relief funds. In June 2021, Lloyd had pleaded guilty to bank fraud, money laundering and aggravated identity theft. In addition to the prison sentence, Lloyd will have to serve five years of supervised release, pay over $4 million in restitution and forfeit 25 properties and 15,740 shares of Tesla, Inc.
Starting April 2020, Lloyd submitted several fraudulent loan applications to avail funds under the US government’s Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. To do so, he misused numerous business names and identities of relatives and business associates without consent. As part of his loan applications, Lloyd submitted fake IRS forms, employee names and wages. He claimed $4.7 million under the pretext of paying wages to purported employees of his business entities.
Overall, six of Lloyd’s many Paycheck Protection Program loan applications were accepted, granting him over $3.4 million. One of his numerous Economic Injury Disaster Loans was also accepted, giving him a further $160,000. Lloyd used the illicitly-obtained funds to purchase real estate and invest in securities. Note that the securities and cash that authorities seized from Lloyd’s accounts are currently worth over $18 million.
Source: US Department of Justice
