Prada to Louis Vuitton: Man out on bond spent COVID loans on shopping spree, feds say
A 38-year-old Georgia man filed bogus applications for COVID-19 relief funds on behalf of a non-existent barber shop and blew through the money in less than a month — all while out on bond in an unrelated drug case, federal prosecutors said.
Now he’s going to prison.
Rodriquez Deonte Redding, who also goes by Dreek, was sentenced to seven years in prison on charges of drug trafficking, money laundering and wire fraud in the Northern District of Georgia, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a Jan. 25 news release.
“It’s shocking that, while under indictment for drug trafficking and money laundering, Redding had the audacity to defraud a program meant to help people and businesses struggling for existence during the pandemic in order to fund his luxury shopping sprees,” U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine said in the release.
A defense attorney appointed to represent Redding did not immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment on Wednesday, Jan. 26.
Congress passed the Paycheck Protection Program as part of a federal aid package to help small businesses struggling to stay afloat during widespread shutdowns caused by COVID-19. More than 11.4 million PPP loans totaling $790 billion were doled out in 2020 and 2021, according to federal data.
Redding, who is from Atlanta, reportedly received two PPP loans for $20,833 each in April and May last year.
Prosecutors said the investigation dates to 2010, when Redding was first suspected of dealing drugs in the Atlanta area. They said he served as a courier for cocaine deliveries and was known to handle bags of money. Security cameras at certain banks even spotted him depositing the cash, the government said.
The money was reportedly laundered through a series of purchases involving luxury cars, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
“As a way to further conceal his unexplained wealth, he convinced his mother and elderly grandmother to purchase the cars in their names, entangling them in his crimes,” prosecutors said.
A grand jury indicted Redding in September 2018 and he was arrested shortly thereafter, but he made bond and was released. While the drug trafficking case made its way through court, prosecutors said, Redding began applying for PPP loans.
Claiming to own a barber shop, Redding reportedly submitted doctored tax returns to qualify for the program. The government said he received $41,666 in PPP loans as a result — which he blew on luxury shopping sprees within a month.
“Instead of spending the PPP money on payroll for employees or other business expenses, he spent thousands of dollars at a time on rental cars and shopping, including at Prada, Louis Vuitton, and Saks Fifth Avenue,” prosecutors said.
Redding is among hundreds of people accused of misusing COVID-19 relief funds.
In February 2021, a 24-year-old woman in Charlotte, North Carolina, was accused of lying to get nearly $150,000 in PPP loans which prosecutors said she spent at more than two dozen places purchasing anything from mattresses and shoes to car parts, diamonds and designer bags.
Redding pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute a controlled substance and money laundering in June, shortly before the government uncovered the PPP loan fraud. He pleaded guilty to wire fraud charges on Jan. 21.
The judge tacked an extra one year and three months for the COVID-19 fraud onto his sentence, resulting in a seven-year sentence with five years of supervised release.
He was also ordered to pay $46,666 in restitution to the U.S. Small Business Administration.
This story was originally published January 26, 2022 at 2:51 PM with the headline "Prada to Louis Vuitton: Man out on bond spent COVID loans on shopping spree, feds say."
