Former Seattle resident found guilty of fraud worth $500k
Jan 16, 2024, 12:46 PM | Updated: 12:53 pm
(Graphic courtesy of KIRO 7)
(Graphic courtesy of KIRO 7)
A New York City man, formerly a resident of Seattle, was convicted of three counts of wire fraud and two counts of bank fraud related to him falsifying COVID-19 Pandemic Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman announced Friday.
Donte McClellon, 30, was a resident and living in Seattle when he submitted fraudulent documents to obtain more than $500,000 in loans from three different financial institutions in May and June 2020.
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“McClellon used the names of three limited liability corporations he had once registered in the State of Washington to make his claims,” Gorman wrote in a prepared statement. “Each of the entities — ‘Frostlake,’ ‘Cannonlake,’ and ‘Skylake’ LLC — had been inactive and showed no signs of business activity in any state or federal registries in the years leading up to the pandemic.”
McClellon claimed on the submitted PPP paperwork that the three companies each had as many as 13 employees with gross receipts of more than $1.6 million. According to Gorman, McClellon forged multiple IRS forms to make it appear the companies were in the real estate, wholesale and retail sectors, while also operating out of his home address in Seattle. The investigation revealed there was no business activity at that address.
The funds were then disbursed to bank accounts that McClellon had set up just days before he filled out the application.
His PPP application eventually was found fraudulent by the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force — established in May 2021 by the Attorney General.
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“McClellon used the money to pay his rent for an apartment in Manhattan, travel, gym memberships, some personal expenses and approximately $20,000 on Uber rides.
U.S. District Judge Lauren King scheduled his sentencing for April 10.
