A Texas Man Accused of Using $1.1M in COVID-19 Relief Funds to Invest in Crypto
U.S. authorities from the U.S. Department of Justice have accused of a resident of Texas who allegedly used an amount of $1.1 million in Coronavirus relief funds to make an investment in cryptocurrency. Based on these allegations, the man has been taken into custody as per the official statement released by the Department of Justice on July 14, 2020.
The man illegally obtained money via the Paycheck Protection Program
Joshua Thomas Argires, 29-years old man who is the resident of Texas, has fraudulently acquired this amount of $1.1 million via PPP or Paycheck Protection Program. He submitted two applications to the Small Business Administration (SBA) to get a forgivable loan of $1.1 million via this loan program. He asked them that he was seeking for a Coronavirus relief fund.
One of the fraudulent loan files was submitted by the criminal on a company’s behalf known as “Texas Barbecue” while the other application was submitted on the behalf of another company named “Houston Landscaping”. The criminal is charged with wire fraud.
The man received funds from both of these applications but according to the complaint, he has not used these funds for making up expenses rather the alleged man used this bunch of money obtained as a COVID relief fund to buy cryptocurrency. The money that he received on Texas Barbecue’s behalf was sent into a crypto account to make an investment while the money acquired through the second relief fund was sent into a bank account.
As the official complaint of the Department of Justice reads:
both of these loans were funded, but that none of the funds were used for payroll or other expenses authorized under the PPP. Rather, the funds received on behalf of Texas Barbecue were invested in a cryptocurrency account, while the funds obtained for Houston Landscaping were held in a bank account and slowly depleted via ATM withdrawals, according to the charges
The U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Patrick for the Southern District of Texas was the one who charged the man with allegedly using the money of the relief fund in cryptocurrency.
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