A Texas resident was sentenced Monday to over nine years in prison for using COVID-19 relief funds to purchase personal items, including a Lamborghini, according to the Justice Department.
Lee Price III, 30, pleaded guilty in September to charges of wire fraud and money laundering, obtaining over $1.6 million in Paycheck Protection Program loan funds, court documents reveal. Once he received these funds, he used them to purchase a Lamborghini Urus, a Ford F-350 truck, a Rolex watch, and to pay off a loan on a residential property, according to documents reviewed by the DOJ.
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The department said Price submitted fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program loan applications that falsely represented the number of employees and payroll expenses he had at three separate businesses: 713 Construction LLC, Price Enterprises Holdings LLC, and Price Logistic Services LLC. On the 713 Construction LLC loan application, Price used the name of a person who died shortly before it was submitted, the documents reveal.
Price also submitted fraudulent tax records and other materials to support his loan applications, according to the documents.
The DOJ, along with law enforcement partners, said it seized over $700,000 of the funds Price allegedly obtained.
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Since the creation of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, the DOJ’s Fraud Section has prosecuted over 150 defendants in more than 95 criminal cases. Through these cases, it has seized over $75 million in cash proceeds derived from fraudulently obtained program funds, according to the DOJ.
