Alpaca farm was illegally bought with COVID loans, feds say. Now pizzeria owner charged
A former pizzeria owner is accused of using fraudulently-obtained COVID-19 relief money to buy an alpaca farm.
Federal officials say Dana L. McIntyre, 57, of Vermont lied about the Beverly, Massachusetts, pizzeria’s employees and payroll expenses on a Paycheck Protection Program application to qualify for a larger loan in April 2020. McIntyre is accused of swindling more than $660,000 through a lender approved by the Small Business Administration.
“McIntyre allegedly reported that the pizzeria employed nearly 50 individuals; however, records indicate that the business paid fewer than 10 employees at any time before or after McIntyre submitted the loan application,” the U.S. Department of Justice said in a Tuesday news release..
The PPP is a coronavirus relief program designed to help small businesses keep their workers on the payroll during the COVID-19 pandemic.
But federal officials say McIntyre sold the pizzeria after obtaining the loan and used the funds for “personal expenses.”
Those expenses included buying and upgrading a farm in Vermont, several alpacas, two cars and “weekly airtime for a cryptocurrency-themed radio show” among other things, feds say.
McIntyre was arrested Tuesday and charged with wire fraud and money laundering, feds say.
“The charge of wire fraud provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000, or twice the gross gain or loss from the scheme, whichever is greater,” the release says. “The charge of money laundering provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $500,000, or twice the value of the criminally derived property.”
McIntyre was scheduled to appear in court in Boston on Tuesday.
Jason Stelmack, an attorney representing McIntyre, told The Associated Press that McIntyre “denies the allegation and will have further comment at a later date.”
