Man used millions in COVID-relief funds to buy luxury cars, plastic surgery, feds say
A Georgia man used millions of pandemic-relief funds meant for small businesses to buy luxury cars, real estate and plastic surgery, prosecutors say.
Now, he is facing bank fraud charges.
Carl Delano Torjagbo, 42, from Marietta, a city about 20 miles northwest of Atlanta, was indicted on May 10 on charges of federal bank fraud and money laundering, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia.
Between January and March 2021, Carl Delano Torjagbo, also known as Karl Lucius Delano, is accused of participating in a scheme to defraud JPMorgan Chase Bank, court documents obtained by McClatchy News show. Prosecutors say Torjagbo spent millions of loan funds to “upgrade his personal lifestyle.”
An attorney for Torjagbo couldn’t be reached by McClatchy News on May 13.
According to the government, the scheme began in February 2021, when Torjagbo submitted a Payment Protection Plan loan application to Chase Bank requesting a loan of $9,554,425.
Chase Bank was one of the lenders in thePPP, according to court documents. The program supported small businesses throughout the COVID-19 pandemic by helping cover some payroll costs “including benefits, interest on mortgages, rent and utilities.”
Only businesses that were “in operation” on Feb. 15, 2020 were eligible for a PPP loan, according to the government.
Prosecutors say Torjagbo created Kremkov Industries, a fake company with no business or employees, out of Georgia on Jan. 4, 2021 — almost a year after the eligibility date for the PPP had passed.
Torjagbo is accused of lying on his application by stating his company was operating in February 2020 and that it had 493 employees with an average monthly payroll of $3,821,770 — all of which the government says isn’t true.
Prosecutors say the man submitted fraudulent documents to the bank as part of his application including false tax returns and bogus payroll information of the 493 “make-believe” employees.
On March 29, 2021, prosecutors say Torjagbo received $9,554,425 in PPP loan proceeds from Chase Bank.
Despite stating that the loan would be used only for “business-related purposes,” prosecutors say Torjagbo transferred $3 million of the PPP loan to pay off personal debts and expenses days after he received the money, court documents state.
On July 29, 2021, Torjagbo filed a petition to change his name to Karl Lucius Delano, court documents show. A month later, the man created a Wyoming company called FlyingJack and used some of the loan money to fund the business’s startup expenses.
Prosecutors say Torjagbo used more than $837,000 to purchase trucks and trailers in the name of FlyingJack.
Torjagbo used funds from the PPP loan to purchase a $87,020 Land Rover and a $115,250 BMW, prosecutors say, and spent over $1.5 million for his personal residence and $300,000 to purchase real estate.
The man is also accused of spending more than $15,000 on plastic surgery.
This story was originally published May 13, 2022 at 4:08 PM with the headline "Man used millions in COVID-relief funds to buy luxury cars, plastic surgery, feds say."
