https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/ppp-loan-fraud-marietta-man-spent-millions-mansion-luxury-cars
A Marietta man was convicted of illegally using a Paycheck Protection Program loan to buy millions of dollars worth of stuff for himself, according to prosecutors. He was also convicted of tax-related crimes.
What we know:
The U.S. Attorney's Office in Atlanta said 49-year-old Carl Delano Torjagbo, also known as Karl Lucius Delano, was convicted of bank fraud, wire fraud and money laundering after obtaining a fraudulent $9.6 million PPP loan and filing fraudulent tax returns that generated a $3.4 million IRS refund.
Federal prosecutors said Torjagbo submitted two individual tax returns to the IRS in February 2021. The tax returns were submitted using different Social Security numbers and dates of birth. The tax returns falsely alleged that Torjagbo had millions of dollars in losses that offset earnings from his purported African gold mine business, Kremkov Industries. The false representations resulted in a U.S. Treasury check being issued to Torjagbo in the amount of $3,366,240
Days later, prosecutors said Torjagbo signed a PPP loan application requesting a $9,554,425 loan for Kremkov Industries.
They said he falsely certified that Kremkov Industries was in operation on Feb. 15, 2020, which was required for a company to be eligible for a PPP loan; that he had 493 employees whose principal places of residence were in the United States; and that the company had an average monthly payroll of nearly $4 million. Torjagbo also falsely certified that all loan proceeds would be used only for business-related purposes and submitted fraudulent documents to the bank, including false tax returns and fake payroll reports that listed nearly a dozen celebrities and fictional characters as purported employees of Kremkov Industries.
Torjagbo received approximately $9.6 million in PPP loan proceeds in March 2021.
Dig deeper:
Instead of using it for what he stated he would, prosecutors said he used the loan and the fraudulently obtained tax refund to pay personal debts and expenses. Some of the money went toward the following:
$1,677,861.01 for his personal residence
$332,999.80 for a 2014 Lamborghini Aventador
$120,799.79 for a 2022 BMW M850xi
$90,520 for a 2021 Land Rover Range Rover Velar
$51,000 for the down payment on a 72-foot yacht
More than $1,000,000 for real estate, trucks, and trailers to start a new business
More than $15,000 for plastic surgery