Over 9-year sentence for man who bought Lamborghini and Rolex watch with COVID relief funds

A 30-year-old Texas man, who admitted to fraudulently obtaining COVID-19 relief funds with which he used to purchase a Lamborghini and other personal properties, was on Monday sentenced to over nine years in prison.

According to New York Post, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said court documents stated Lee Price III received a $1.6 million PPP loan after he fabricated the information he provided in his applications. He was subsequently charged with money laundering and wire fraud, and he pleaded guilty to the charges in September.

A person whose name Price used in the application is said to have died before he submitted the paperwork, court documents stated. Price also falsified payroll expenses and the number of workers he had supposedly employed at three different businesses, court documents stated, adding that he also provided fraudulent tax records and other materials.

And upon receiving the funds, the Department of Justice said Price used a part of the proceeds to purchase a Lamborghini Urus, a Ford F-350 truck, and a Rolex watch, New York Post reported.

The DOJ said authorities have so far been able to retrieve over $700,000 of the said funds.