A Park City man used fraudulently obtained COVID-19 business relief funds to purchase a 2014 GMC Sierra truck, federal prosecutors said in an indictment unsealed Wednesday.
John Anthony Taylor faces one count of money laundering and two counts of making a false statement in a loan and credit application, court records show.
Taylor made false statements about his criminal record when he applied in early 2020 for both a SBA Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan and an Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL), court records state.
Due to the false statements, Taylor was able to transfer $23,000 in fraudulently obtained loan funds to his business’ bank account, court records state. He then used “at least a portion” of those funds to purchase the pickup truck for about $22,000, prosecutors said.
Taylor was previously charged with wire fraud in 2020, after he allegedly made false claims that he was a representative of the company 3M, which purportedly gave him access to millions of N95 masks.
At the time, he attempted to sell the purported masks to an undercover FBI agent, according to a news release, and sent the agent a fake purchase order from 3M. The company confirmed to investigators that it had no relationship with Taylor.
Court filings show Taylor was awaiting trial for that case when he was indicted this month in connection to the PPP and EDIL loans he received.
Taylor is scheduled to appear in court on March 21.
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