Diamond Blue Smith, PPP Loan Forgery, Florida 2020

State: Florida
Category: Fraud &#038; Financial Crimes
Source: <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdfl/pr/florida-recording-artist-and-pennsylvania-man-charged-24-million-covid-relief-fraud" style="color:#cc0000;" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">DOJ Press Release ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Â Ã¢â‚¬â€

Diamond Blue Smith

MIAMI, FL – A Florida recording artist and a Pennsylvania towing company owner have been charged for their alleged participation in a scheme to file fraudulent loan applications seeking more than $24 million in forgivable Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

Diamond Blue Smith, 36, of Miramar, Florida, and Tonye C. Johnson, 28, of Flourtown, Pennsylvania, were charged in federal criminal complaints filed in the Southern District of Florida with wire fraud, bank fraud, and conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud.

Smith was arrested and appeared yesterday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Regina D. Cannon of the Northern District of Georgia. Johnson was arrested on Oct. 1, 2020, and appeared on Oct. 2, 2020, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Henry S. Perkin of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The complaints were unsealed today.

The criminal complaint against Smith alleges the following: Smith, a recording artist, obtained a PPP loan of $426,717 for his company, Throwbackjersey.com LLC, using falsified documents. Upon completion of that loan, Smith then sought and obtained another PPP loan of $708,065 for his other company, Blue Star Records LLC, using falsified documents. Smith purchased a Ferrari for $96,000 and made other luxury purchases using PPP loan proceeds.

According to the complaints, Smith and Johnson conspired with others to obtain millions of dollars in fraudulent PPP loans. It is alleged that early in their scheme, Smith and Johnson’s co-conspirator, Phillip J. Augustin, obtained a fraudulent PPP loan for his talent management company using falsified documents.

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