WV Biz Owner Pilfered $300K in COVID Funds

⏱ 2 min read

Bradley Temple, 48, a former Wheeling, West Virginia business owner, just confessed to treating nearly $300,000 in COVID-19 relief funds like a personal piggy bank. He pled guilty today in federal court to unlawful money transactions, admitting he didn’t use a cent of the money for its intended purpose. The scheme unfolded while Temple was still claiming a West Virginia business address, even as he relocated to Delray Beach, Florida.

The exact details of how Temple diverted the $297,878.64 remain murky, but prosecutors say the amount speaks to a calculated effort to exploit the pandemic aid programs. He didn’t just skim a little off the top – this was a full-blown theft of funds meant to keep businesses afloat during the crisis.

U.S. Attorney Matthew L. Harvey for the Northern District of Alabama (the case was transferred there) is keeping the specifics close to the vest. Temple’s flight to Florida clearly didn’t throw investigators off his scent, and they hauled him back into the fold. Whether he thought escaping to the Sunshine State would shield him from the feds was a bad bet.

Sentencing is pending, and while the maximum penalty isn’t immediately clear, expect a substantial prison sentence and a court order forcing Temple to repay every stolen dollar. This wasn’t a desperate act, it was a deliberate betrayal of a program designed to help those in real need.