A Phoenix man who illegally obtained more than $1 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans during the COVID-19 outbreak was sentenced to federal prison on Wednesday.
Jamar Johnson, 54, was sentenced to 15 months in prison, followed by three years on supervised release. Johnson has already pled guilty to wire fraud.
According to federal authorities, Johnson made bogus applications for PPP loans on behalf of his company, CBL Worldwide II.
In one application, Johnson fraudulently reported that the company employed 73 individuals and had an annual payroll bill of more than $4.8 million. In fact, CBL Worldwide II had no employees and no payroll bills.
As a result of the misleading claims, Johnson secured two different PPP loans totaling $1,007,650.
Johnson used the monies on personal expenses rather than corporate operations, such as bitcoin, a vehicle, and cosmetic dentistry.
Johnson was sentenced to make full reparations to the Small Business Administration (SBA).
Congress authorized a $2 trillion economic package in March 2020 to provide emergency financial relief during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns, which included the PPP program.
The program provided small firms with forgiving loans totaling hundreds of billions of dollars, with the goal of retaining employees and supporting payroll.
Homeland Security Investigations investigated the situation with the assistance of the SBA Office of Inspector General.
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