A reality TV personality and trucking company owner from Georgia allegedly used more than $1.5 million of small-business relief funds illegally for extravagant personal gain.
Maurice Fayne, aka Arkansas Mo, 37, who stars in Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta, was charged with bank fraud for his use of the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program, created to help struggling businesses weather the coronavirus economic shutdown.
The Department of Justice accused Fayne, who’s from Dacula, Georgia, of using more than $1.5 million of the small-business relief loan proceeds to purchase $85,000 in jewelry, including a Rolex Presidential watch, a diamond bracelet, a 5.73-carat diamond ring for himself, and to pay $40,000 for child support.
Federal agents also searched his home and seized approximately $80,000 in cash, including $9,400 that Fayne had in his pockets, and further discovered a 2019 Rolls-Royce Wraith, which still had a temporary dealer tag on it.
“The defendant allegedly stole money meant to assist hard-hit employees and businesses during these difficult times and instead greedily used the money to bankroll his lavish purchases of jewelry and other personal items,” said Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.
Fayne submitted a small-business loan application in the name of his company, called Flame Trucking, stating that his business had 107 employees and an average monthly payroll of almost $1.5 million. In seeking a loan for $3.7 million, Fayne certified that the loan would be used to “retain workers and maintain payroll or make mortgage interest payments, lease payments, and utility payments, as specified under the Paycheck Protection Program Rule.”
He was ultimately given a loan for a little over $2 million and, within days, had used most of the money on illegal personal purchases.
The Small Business Administration’s relief program, called the Paycheck Protection Program, provides loans to small businesses that will be forgiven as long as they use at least 75% of the loan for worker salaries and for the loan to be spent over an eight-week period.
The program was initially funded with $350 billion as part of the massive $2.3 trillion CARES Act relief package. The program was given an additional $321 billion last week after the initial funds ran out in just two weeks.
