David T. Hines Miami man who frauded the PPP coronavirus program of $3.9 million spends illicit funds on 2020 Lamborghini Huracán, dating sites & luxury hotels & items.
Now what? A Florida man is accused of scamming nearly $4 million from the US government’s coronavirus relief loan program — and using some of the cash on a brand-new Lamborghini and other luxury items, authorities said Monday.
David T. Hines was charged with bank fraud, making false statements to a financial institution and engaging in transactions in unlawful proceeds in a criminal complaint unsealed Monday.
Hines, 29, of Miami, initially tried to get $13.5 million from the Payment Protection Program through applications on behalf of different companies, by saying he needed the money for employee payroll purposes.
Turns out ‘those purported employees either did not exist or earned a fraction of what Hines claimed in his PPP applications,’ the affidavit states.
The bank eventually approved three of the loans totaling $3.9 million.
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Expenditures failed to qualify under Small Business Administration loan program
Within a few days of pocketing the funds, Hines allegedly bought a 2020 Lamborghini Huracán valued at more than $318,000, the DOJ said in a news release.
He also spent thousands of dollars on dating websites, jewelry and clothes and stays at luxury hotels in Miami Beach, the complaint alleges.
Needless to say the expenditures do not qualify on the list of permissible expenses under a Small Business Administration loan program meant to protect employees and cover other legitimate costs like rent during the coronavirus pandemic.
The SBA’s program, totaling nearly $650 billion, was approved by Congress as part of the CARES Act.
Busted after hit & run with new car
Federal investigators linked the sports car to Hines after he was involved in a hit-and-run incident on July 11, The Miami Herald reports.
Miami police impounded the vehicle, which federal prosecutors now plan to seize.
When the bank froze Hines’ companies’ accounts on June 24, they showed a balance of $3,463,162 but no repayments on the loans.
Hines was arrested Friday. He was granted release on $100,000 bond by U.S. Chief Magistrate Judge John O’Sullivan during his first court appearance on Monday.
He will be allowed to stay at his mother’s home with a GPS monitor. His arraignment is scheduled for Oct. 14.
