LHHA Star Maurice "Arkansas Mo" Fayne Arrested for COVID-19 Fraud!!!
LHHA Star Maurice Mo Fayne Arrested for COVID-19 Fraud!!!
First Name Tom, Last Name Foolery… And I’m Everybody’s Uncle!
Including this COVID scammer… Maurice Mo Fayne.
Maurice Fayne, who stars in VH1's "Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta," has been arrested & charged with federal bank fraud after misusing funds from a Paycheck Protection Program ("PPP") loan, federal officials said Wednesday.
Fayne, also known as "Arkansas Mo," runs a corporation called Flame Trucking, & he submitted a PPP loan application for the company on April 15, stating that the business had 107 employees & an average monthly payroll of $1,490,200, according to an affidavit for the criminal complaint.
Flame Trucking asked for a loan of $3,725,500 & certified that the loan proceeds would be used to "retain workers & maintain payroll or make mortgage interest payments, lease payments, & utility payments, as specified under the Paycheck Protection Program Rule," the affidavit alleges.
United Community Bank ultimately funded the loan for $2,045,800 in late April, according to the affidavit.
Fayne then used more that $1.5 million of the funds to buy $85,000 in jewelry, including a Rolex watch, a diamond bracelet, & a 5.73 carat diamond ring for himself, the US Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia said in a release.
Fayne also leased a 2019 Rolls-Royce Wraith, & paid $40,000 for child support, according to the statement.
"At a time when small businesses are struggling for survival, we cannot tolerate anyone driven by personal greed, who misdirects federal emergency assistance earmarked for keeping businesses afloat," said Chris Hacker, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta, in the statement.
An attorney for Fayne pointed to the "considerable confusion" about PPP guidelines when asked by CNN about the charges against her client.
"There has been considerable confusion among small business owners about PPP guidelines -- particularly around the question of whether & how business owners are permitted to pay themselves a salary or take an owner's draw. I hope these issues to be better fleshed out in the weeks & months to come," attorney Tanya Miller said in a statement.
"For obvious reasons, we cannot try these allegations in the media," Miller said.
"We will provide the appropriate response in the proper forum once all the information has been provided to us."
The PPP loan program from the federal government aims to help small businesses & their workers survive during the Covid-19 pandemic. The loans are for businesses with 500 or fewer employees to pay workers' salaries, rent & utility costs.
In an interview with federal agents last week, Fayne said he used the PPP loan to "pay payroll & other business expenses" of the company, & "Fayne expressly denied that he used any of the PPP loan proceeds to pay his personal debts," according to the court document.
Federal agents searched Fayne's residence in Dacula, Georgia, May 11, where they also discovered about $80,000 in cash, including $9,400 that Fayne had in his pockets, court documents say.
Fayne told the agents that he had used the PPP loan to buy the jewelry, & when asked if he had used any of the loan on the Rolls- Royce, he said, "Kinda, sorta, not really," according to the affidavit.
"Fayne told the agents that he believed he had the right to use part of the PPP loan proceeds for 'other business purposes' & for 'working capital,'" the court document said.
Fayne was released on a $10,000 bond Wednesday.
Climb on The Family Tree below & share your thoughts about My Nephew Maurice Fayne’s fraud situation!
By: Konstantin Toropin
Image(s): Getty
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