Actor Austin St. John, who is most famous for playing the Red Power Ranger in the ‘90s series and its movie, has been arrested on fraud charges after the FBI raided his home.
As TMZ reports, a number of armed FBI agents raided his home in McKinney, Texas on Thursday. When they exited the home, they were escorting St. John in handcuffs. The actor is part of a big federal indictment against 18 individuals, as he was allegedly part of a scheme to exploit the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program to help businesses impacted by COVID-19.
He allegedly took out as many as 16 loans, for a total of $3.5 million by utilizing fake information. As the United States Department of Justice’s statement on the indictment reads, the 47-year-old actor has been charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
"According to the indictment, the defendants, led by Michael Hill and Andrew Moran, are alleged to have executed a scheme to defraud lenders and the Small Business Administration’s (SBA's) Paycheck Protection Program (PPP)," reads the statement. "Hill is alleged to have recruited co-conspirators to use an existing business or create a business to submit applications to obtain PPP funding." The individuals alleged forged paperwork that misrepresented the nature of the business, its number of employees, and the amount of the payroll.
If convicted, St. John and the 17 others could face up to 20 years in prison.
St. John got his start in the world of acting when he landed the role of Jason Lee Scott, aka the Red Power Ranger, in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. He later reprised the role in Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie in 1997, and showed up in numerous other Power Rangers series including a guest appearance in 2020’s Beast Morphers. Outside of that, he’s not had too many roles, although he did show up in the faith-based drama A Walk with Grace in 2019.
