The Justice Department is accusing a Miami man of spending a portion of his Paycheck Protection Program loans on a $318,000 Lamborghini Huracan Evo.
The New York Times reported that David Hines, 29, was arrested and charged with bank fraud, making a false statement to a lending institution and engaging in transactions in unlawful proceeds. He could face up to 70 years in prison if convicted on all charges.
The newspaper said Hines claimed in April he operated four businesses with 70 workers and had monthly expenses totaling $4 million.
“Those purported employees either did not exist or earned a fraction of what Hines claimed in his PPP applications,” said U.S. Postal Inspector Bryan Masmela in an affidavit quoted in The Miami Herald. “Collectively, Hines falsely claimed his companies paid millions of dollars in payroll in the first quarter of 2020. State and bank records, however, show little to no payroll expense during this period.”
Hines received three payments totaling nearly $4 million. Hines also spent a part of the money on jewelry, clothes, on stays at Miami Beach resorts and on dating websites, the Herald said.
Miami police impounded his Lamborghini and prosecutors plan to seize it, the newspaper reported.
Hines’ lawyer, Chad Piotrowski, said his client was “a legitimate business owner who, like millions of Americans, suffered financially during the pandemic” and “is anxious to tell his side of the story when the time comes,” according to The New York Times.
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
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