Carl Bradley Johansson, Bank Fraud, California 2023

Local Business Owner Accused of Stealing COVID-19 Relief Funds

SANTA ANA, California – Carl Bradley Johansson, 62, of Newport Beach, California, was arrested today on a criminal complaint alleging he fraudulently obtained more than $667,000 in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) COVID-19 pandemic relief funds.

Johansson, the owner of trucking companies in the Inland Empire and elsewhere in California, was arrested this morning and is charged with one count of bank fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud. He is expected to make his initial court appearance this afternoon in United States District Court in Santa Ana.

Johansson was on pretrial release in a separate case that remains scheduled to go on trial on September 14. In that matter, Johansson is alleged to have schemed to defeat federal transportation laws by ordering the illegal repair of an oil tanker that resulted in a fatal explosion in 2014, and to have unlawfully avoided the payment of at least $298,562 in federal income taxes from 2012 to 2017.

According to an affidavit filed with the complaint unsealed today, in April 2020, under Johansson's direction, the Ontario-based trucking company Western Distribution LLC applied for a PPP loan in the amount of $436,390. Johansson's son was listed as the company's owner on the loan application and the loan application was approved.

Under Johansson's direction, Western Distribution LLC immediately spent its PPP funds in May and June 2020, in large part on expenses unrelated to its payroll. Rather than use the funds to keep the company's employees on staff, Johansson laid off most of the company's employees, but rehired many of them in late 2020.

The total loss alleged in this case is approximately $667,917. If convicted of both charges, Johansson would face a statutory maximum sentence of 70 years in federal prison.

A complaint contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

The case was investigated by IRS Criminal Investigation and the Department of Transportation – Office of Inspector General. Assistant United States Attorneys Joseph O. Johns and Matthew W. O'Brien of the Environmental and Community Safety Crimes Section are prosecuting this case.

On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with other federal, state, local, and tribal agencies to supplement federal law enforcement agencies' ongoing efforts to investigate and prosecute COVID-19 related fraud schemes.

Carl Bradley Johansson, 62, of Newport Beach, California, was arrested today on a criminal complaint alleging he fraudulently obtained more than $667,000 in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) COVID-19 pandemic relief funds.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-cdca/pr/owner-trucking-companies-arrested-charges-alleging-scheme-fraudulently-obtain-more