You may recall a blog post from last year in which I explained that a contractor should not use PPP loan funds to buy a motorcycle or for golf outings.  Well, another contractor was just convicted of PPP loan fraud with similar allegations.

Last Friday, a jury deliberated for 2 hours and found the roofer guilty of falsely acquiring $2 million in PPP loans.  That was about enough time for the jury to order lunch, eat lunch, and then vote on whether to convict.  It doesn’t look like there was much to debate.

The evidence at trial showed that the Florida based roofer provided documentation to the bank that the purchase of his new boat was business equipment and payment to a former business partner was payroll.  The roofer also lied about hiring 39 employees, including family members, and then firing them, in order to boost his payroll numbers to get a larger PPP loan.

This is certainly a cautionary tale of what not to do with your PPP loan.