These days, people are getting creative in funding their cryptocurrency ventures. But there’s a fine line between being resourceful and doing something illegal. Unfortunately, for this man, he failed to distinguish the difference between the two.
A man named Lebnitz Tran was charged by the U.S. Department of Justice for using a taxpayer-backed loan called Paycheck Protection Program to buy cryptocurrencies. He will face nine counts of wire and bank fraud charges and a maximum penalty of 50 years.
Tran was able to get an astounding $3.6 million from the government through fake Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan applications. One of the fraudulent methods he did was submitting loan applications for “four companies” which turned out to have fake addresses.
Crypto, bank account, Tesla
When he successfully acquired more than $3.6 million, he didn’t hesitate to enjoy his once-in-a-lifetime windfall. He spent his millions on cryptocurrencies, transferred a chunk into his bank account, and bought himself a brand new Tesla car.
Tran took advantage of the government’s loose background checks for loans during the pandemic. He is not alone in doing this method as more scammers were reported in the past abusing the government’s minimal checking to illegally take out loans.
Taking advantage of the loopholes
His fraudulent tactics were similar to what other scammers did in the past. Just this past July, the U.S. Justice Department pinned down a Texan who initiated a fraud scheme to buy cryptocurrencies.
Another man named Joshua Thomas Argires was also charged by the government for acquiring a $1 million loan through an illegal method.
Image courtesy of Cointelegraph News/YouTube
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