A Texas man has been arrested for allegedly scamming the US government out of $3.3 million in Covid-19 pandemic relief payments, which he spent on real estate, luxury vehicles, and private jets.
Scott Jackson Davis, 46, was granted $3.3 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans after he claimed he needed the money to pay for the “significant payroll” of three businesses. An investigation revealed, however, that the companies “had few if any employees and little to no payroll.”
Authorities also discovered that Davis had previously pleaded guilty to felony wire fraud – a detail he left out of his loan application.
Davis was arrested on Tuesday on charges of wire fraud, bank fraud, and money laundering after he “spent a large portion of the PPP loan funds on private jet travel, real estate, and luxury vehicles,” according to the US Department of Justice.
“If convicted, he faces a maximum total penalty of 30 years in prison for each count of bank fraud, 20 years in prison for each count of wire fraud, and 10 years in prison for each count of money laundering,” the DOJ declared.
Davis is not the first Texan to face charges for stealing money through the US pandemic relief program.
Lee Price III, 29, was charged with wire and bank fraud among other crimes last year after he obtained $1.6 million through fraudulent relief applications. Price spent the money on real estate, a Lamborghini sports car, jewelry, and strippers before he was caught and sentenced to over nine years in prison.
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