A rideshare driver from Los Angeles’ Koreatown neighborhood has been arrested for allegedly using more than $2 million in fraudulently obtained COVID-19 pandemic business loans to buy cryptocurrency, according to the Department of Justice.
The DOJ said that Bruce Choi, 34, was arrested on Tuesday at San Francisco International Airport after arriving on a flight from Japan.
He’s being charged with four counts of wire fraud affecting a financial institution and one count of transactional money laundering.
According to the indictment, which was unsealed on Wednesday, Choi represented himself as the CEO and owner of a business called Premier Republic and applied for a $1,995,000 PayCheck Protection Program (PPP) loan. He reportedly claimed that this business had an average monthly payroll of $798,000 and was in operation in mid-February while paying salaries and payroll taxes.
However, the DOJ said that Premier Republic had neither business operations or employees.
Choi reportedly submitted a fake bank statement listing “deposits” and “transfers” of $798,000 during the period of Feb. 1, 2020 through Feb. 31, 2020.
He also reportedly submitted a fraudulent Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) application in which he falsely stated his business, “Bruce,” was involved in real estate, had 10 employees and had gross revenues of $475 million in 2019. However, the DOJ said no such business existed.
As a result of his alleged scheme, the victim lender distributed $1,995,000 to Choi and the U.S. Treasury gave him a $10,000 EIDL advance.
Choi later wired the proceeds to a Kraken cryptocurrency account, according to the DOJ.
Prosecutors have seized nearly 40 bitcoins and other cryptocurrency as part of the investigation.
If convicted, Choi would face a maximum sentence of 30 years in federal prison for each wire fraud count and up to 10 years on the money laundering count.
He’s expected to make his initial appearance Thursday in U.S. District Court in San Francisco. He will be arraigned in Los Angeles federal court in the coming weeks.
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