Texas man sentenced to 9 years for fraudulently obtaining $1.6 million in PPP funds and using it to buy a Lamborghini and a Rolex

• Lee Price III, 30, secured $1.6M in fraudulent PPP loans during the pandemic, the DOJ said Monday.
• He used it to buy a Lamborghini car, a Ford truck, and a Rolex watch, among others, the DOJ said.

A 30-year-old Texas man was sentenced to nine years in prison on Monday for fraudulently obtaining $1.6 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, the Justice Department said.

During the pandemic, Lee Price III, 30, applied for loans totaling $2.6 million on behalf of three entities, and ultimately obtained $1.6 million, the DOJ said.

"Price falsely represented the number of employees and payroll expenses in each of the PPP loan applications," the DOJ said.

In one case, when applying for a loan for an entity called 713 Construction, "Price applied in the name of an individual who died shortly before the application was submitted," the statement said.

With the money, Price bought a Lamborghini Urus, which retails at around $227,000, and a Ford F-350 truck, which retails at $86,510, the DOJ said.

He also bought a Rolex watch and paid off a loan on a property, the department said, adding that it also seized more than $700,000 that had been obtained by Price.

Price pleaded guilty in September to charges of wire fraud and money laundering, the department said.

In May, a man from California was arrested over charges that included illegally obtaining $5 million in PPP loans. The man spent the funds on Ferrari, Bentley, and Lamborghini sports cars, the DOJ said at the time.

Small businesses in the US were entitled to apply for loans under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act during the pandemic.

The DOJ said Monday that it had prosecuted more than 150 defendants and has "seized over $75 million in cash proceeds derived from fraudulently obtained PPP funds."