A Houston man has been sentenced to 9 years and 2 months in prison for fraudulently obtaining over $1.6 million in coronavirus Paycheck Protection Program loans, CBS News reports.
Lee Price III, 30, pleaded guilty to wire fraud and money laundering in September, after he sent in loan applications to two different lenders for $2.6 million. After receiving $1.6 million, he bought a Lamborghini Urus, a Ford F-350, a Rolex, dropped $2,000 at a strip club, $2,500 at night clubs, $700 at a liquor store, and paid off a property loan, before the DOJ took back $700,000. And while CBS News reports that Price spent $2000 at a single strip club, ABC News and KHOU 11 report that Price blew thousands at multiple strip clubs.
To secure the funds, Price reportedly fabricated payroll expenses and employee numbers for three businesses, including one called “Price Enterprises,” which he claimed had 50 employees and a monthly payroll average of $375,000. As it turned out, authorities said there was no indication he ever hired anybody or had a payroll for the business.
“Mr. Price hopes that others will learn from his reckoning that there is no easy money,” Tom Berg, Price’s lawyer, told the Washington Post in an email. “He has the balance of the 110-month sentence to reflect, repent and rebuild his misspent life.”
Per CBS News, Price was previously convicted of forgery in 2010 and robbery in 2011, and is currently also being accused of tampering with a government record in Texas.
Over 160 people have been prosecuted for fraudulently obtained PPP funds, per CBS News. Authorities have seized over $75 million in cash related to the PPP fraud.
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