A 50-year-old Grand Rapids man has pleaded guilty to bank fraud and money laundering involving COVID-19 loans
GRAND RAPIDS, MI — A Grand Rapids man used fraudulently obtained COVID-19 business loans to buy a convertible and pay for his Florida wedding on a boat, authorities said.
Kurtis James VanderMolen, 50, has pleaded guilty to bank fraud and money laundering in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan.
Federal prosecutors said he fraudulently obtained $170,000 in Paycheck Protection Program loans for a company that did not exist.
Prosecutors said that, in July 2020, he submitted documents to a New Jersey bank for Breakout Strategies Corp., a fake company. He sent the bank fake bank records and fake payroll records and received an initial loan of $100,641.
He later received another loan for $69,361.
Prosecutors alleged he used the first loan for personal expenses, including the purchase of a BMW 650i convertible. He used the second loan for more personal expenses, they said, including to pay for his Florida wedding on a boat.
“This was federal aid that was intended to support our country’s critical small businesses, not to buy luxury cars or pay for wedding expenses,” U.S. Attorney Mark Totten said in a written statement. “My office will continue to aggressively prosecute COVID-19 relief fraud using all available remedies.”
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