LA Rideshare Driver Charged With Using $2M in COVID Relief Funds to Buy Crypto

A Los Angeles rideshare operator has been arrested connected national charges alleging helium fraudulently obtained much than $2 cardinal successful COVID-19 pandemic concern loans and utilized the funds to acquisition cryptocurrency, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California.

Koreatown nonmigratory Bruce Choi, 34, was arrested Tuesday astatine San Francisco International Airport and charged with ligament fraud and wealth laundering successful transportation with the alleged scheme, the DOJ said successful a press release.

Federal prosecutors allege that Choi submitted fraudulent applications for COVID-19 concern alleviation loans designed to assistance morganatic businesses past pandemic-related economical disruptions. According to the indictment, Choi represented himself arsenic the CEO and proprietor of a concern called “Premier Republic,” which prosecutors said was a “fictional entity that neither had concern operations nor hired anyone.”

On behalf of Premier Republic, Choi is accused of having submitted a fraudulent Economic Injury Disaster Loan application, receiving immoderate $2 cardinal successful funds. Prosecutors allege that Choi aboriginal wired the proceeds of the strategy to an relationship astatine crypto speech Kraken.

Prosecutors seized astir 40 BTC, on with different cryptocurrencies, arsenic portion of the investigation.

The charges transportation important imaginable penalties if Choi is convicted, with each ligament fraud number carrying a maximum condemnation of 30 years and the wealth laundering complaint carrying a maximum condemnation of 10 years.

The lawsuit highlights ongoing national efforts to prosecute alleged fraud related to pandemic alleviation programs, which distributed billions successful exigency backing to businesses during COVID-19 lockdowns. The Small Business Administration and different agencies person worked with instrumentality enforcement to place perchance fraudulent claims among the millions of applications received.

Authorities astir the satellite are continuing to prosecute cases wherever COVID alleviation was misused to acquisition cryptocurrency.

In 2023, a TikTok influencer pleaded guilty to ligament fraud charges aft defrauding lenders and the U.S. authorities of $1.2 cardinal successful alleviation loans and laundering immoderate of the proceeds done cryptocurrency. And past year, the proprietor of a agrarian glass-fitting institution successful England was sentenced to 2 years successful situation aft securing much than $130,000 successful loans and transferring immoderate $10,000 to “investment and crypto investment” companies.