u.today
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has charged Joshua Thomas Argires, a 29-year-old man from Texas, with Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan fraud.
According to the DOJ’s press release, Argires unlawfully obtained $1.1 mln worth of relief money to invest it in cryptocurrency.
There was no BBQ
The $670 bln PPP program, which allows businesses to receive forgivable loans from the federal government, was meant to cushion the blow from the lockdown-induced financial crisis.
However, due to hasty processing and a lack of safeguards, many bad actors jumped on the opportunity to submit fraudulent applications.
Argires managed to collect a six-figure loan for barbecue and landscaping companies that, in fact, did not have any employees.
Since his fake businesses did not have any payroll expenses, he was able to misuse some of the proceeds to buy cryptocurrency.
The Texan was also accused of cashing out ill-gotten funds from his bank account through multiple ATM withdrawals.
The PPP fiasco
PPP loans recently became a major point of contention in crypto after such high-profile names as ConsenSys and ShapeShift accepted bailout money. This didn’t sit well with libertarian-leaning industry participants.
As reported by U.Today, IOHK CEO Charles Hoskinson claimed that he had to accept it because his competitors did the same thing in order to fight off numerous accusations:
"So, I either have a choice of getting some to recover the fact that my competitors just got some free money or to not do that."
Bitcoin supporter and presidential candidate Kanye West was also slammed for receiving stimulus money despite having a net worth of $1.3 bln.