Florida man charged with using COVID-19 relief funds on Lamborghini

By Darryl Coote |

July 27 (UPI) — Federal prosecutors in Florida on Monday accused a man of defrauding nearly $4 million from a coronavirus aid program and buying himself a Lamborghini sports car with some of his ill-gotten gains.

David T. Hines, 29, has been charged with one count of bank fraud, one count of making false statements to a financial institution and one count of engaging in transactions in unlawful proceeds, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a release.

According to the criminal complaint unsealed Monday with his appearance before U.S. Chief Magistrate Judge John J. O’Sullivan in the Southern District of Florida, Hines attempted to secure some $13.5 million in Paycheck Protection Program loans designed to help small businesses pay workers on their payroll amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The PPP was included in the more than $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act that President Donald Trump signed into law in March.

Read more of this story