A Texas man was sentenced to nine years in prison on Monday for illegally receiving $1.6 million in PPP loans.
During the pandemic, Lee Price III, 30, applied for $2.6 million in loans on behalf of three entities and received $1.6 million.
The DOJ said that “Price falsely represented the number of employees and payroll expenses in each of the PPP loan applications.”
The DOJ said in a statement that “Price applied in the name of an individual who died shortly before the application was submitted,” when seeking a loan for one of the entities called 713 Construction.
Price allegedly spent the money on a Lamborghini Urus, which costs roughly $227,000, and a Ford F-350 truck, which costs $86,510. Prosecutors say he also spent thousands at Houston nightclubs and strip clubs.
He also purchased a Rolex watch and paid off a property loan, according to the DOJ, which also seized more than $700,000 that Price had gotten.
In September, Price pleaded guilty to charges of wire fraud and money laundering.
Yesterday, the DOJ claimed to have charged over 150 people and “seized over $75 million in cash proceeds derived from fraudulently obtained PPP funds.”
