The Department of Justice seal is seen in Washington, D.C.
AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana
A man from Oregon was sentenced to federal prison for using COVID relief funds to invest in a company.
Andrew Lloyd received funds from the Small Business Administration and used them to purchase shares ofTesla.
Relief funds grew to more than $18 million after Lloyd received more than $3.4 million.
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An Oregon man is going to federal prison after he used the COVID-19 relief funds to invest inTesla stock.
Andrew Lloyd of Lebanon, Oregon bought 15,740 shares of the electric car company in 2020 after he received more than $3.4 million from the Small Business Administration's COVID-19 assistance programs.
Lloyd used personal identification information of relatives and business associates without their consent to submit numerous CARES Act loan applications. Lloyd submitted false IRS forms to receive the loans.
Lloyd used the same information across different business entities to file multiple loan applications, including the same physical location for multiple businesses and the same names of several dozen employees for different loans.
Lloyd took more than $1.8 million of the funds received and transferred them to his account to purchase 15,740 shares of the company. Lloyd paid about $114 per share for his stake in the company. Today, the price of the stock is about $1,056 per share, representing an 800% gain.
Lloyd bought more than 25 properties with fraudulent funds. More than $18 million worth of securities and properties were seized by authorities. As of Thursday, the fraudulent stake in the company was worth more than $16 million.
Lloyd was charged with bank fraud, money laundering, and identity theft. He was sentenced to four years in federal prison and five years of supervised release after pleading guilty to all three charges.
Lloyd was ordered to pay more than $4 million in restitution and to give up 25 properties and more than 15,000 shares ofTesla stock.
Business Insider has an original article.
