Former Revere man allegedly netted $2.5 million in COVID relief funds fraudulently

A former Revere resident has agreed to plead guilty to filing fraudulent applications for COVID-19 relief funds which netted him $2.5 million.

Vinicius Santana, 34, now of Boca Raton, Florida, was arrested and charged with one count of wire fraud in June 2022, and is now also charged with one count of unlawful monetary transactions, according to the Massachusetts U.S. Attorney’s Office.

A plea hearing has not yet been scheduled.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Santana was the owner of Complete Home Care LLC, a painting company in Massachusetts. In April 2020, Santana submitted four different PPP loan applications on behalf of the business.

The first three applications, in which Santana allegedly listed five employees and an average monthly payroll of between $10,000 and $18,000, were denied, the release said.

In the fourth application for the business, the U.S. Attorney’s Office alleges, Santana falsely claimed to have 154 employees and an average monthly payroll of $1 million.

On May 11, 2020, a bank issued Santana’s company a $2,500,000 loan based on the purportedly false information in the fourth application, the release said.

After receiving the funds, the U.S. Attorney’s Office alleges, Santana misused the loan proceeds to buy real estate and cars and to invest in cryptocurrency.

The charge of wire fraud provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000, or twice the gross gain or loss from the scheme, whichever is greater.

The charge of unlawful monetary transactions provides for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of either $250,000 or twice the value of the criminally derived property, whichever is greater.

If Santana pleads guilty as agreed, the judge will then schedule a sentencing hearing for a later date.

Want to leave a comment?

Create an Account Or sign in to your account

To comment, please create a screen name in your profile

To comment, please verify your email address

Conversation

This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com