You know what they say, “Karma’s a bitch.” That’s what this jerk found out after crashing his Lamborghini Huracan. The Payment Protection Program was recently initiated by the feds. It is meant for helping businesses pay employees while shutting down due to the coronavirus. According to the US Department of Justice David T Hines received $3.9 million from the US government. He allegedly did this by falsifying his South Florida moving company’s employee information. But Karma got this jerk for stealing PPP money when he was arrested after crashing his Lambo Huracan. 

Hines misreported payroll expenses for his South Florida moving company

Hines has been charged with “one count of bank fraud, one count of making false statements to a financial institution, and one count of engaging in transactions in unlawful proceeds.” That’s because Hines misreported payroll expenses for his South Florida moving company. He sought $13.5 million and received $3.9 million. But Hines didn’t need the money for covering payroll so he was flush with dough. What to do? 

He began spending money like a drunk sailor. One of the things he purchased was a Lamborghini Huracan. According to the Miami Herald, he paid $318,497 for it. Unfortunately for him, this was not on the list of permissible expenses from the Small Business Administration loan program. That money is meant to protect employees and to cover legitimate business expenses needed during the pandemic. 

Hines bought more than just the Lambo. He spent thousands of dollars on dating services and websites, jewelry, clothes, and fancy hotels like the Fontainebleau and Setai on Miami Beach. But it didn’t take long for Karma to snap back. Other instances of fraud similar to Hines’ are starting to pop up around the country as federal investigators trace company purchases. 

The agency handling these loans does not bother to check claims made by borrowers

Investigation showed that Hines sought seven SBA loans through Bank of America to cover 70 employees totaling $4 million in payroll. But his companies only showed monthly expenses of around $200,000. So either there were no employees or they were earning far less than what Hines reported. The agency handling these loans for the most part does not bother to check claims made by borrowers. “In the ordinary course of providing the loan guaranty, neither the SBA nor any other government agency checked IRS records to confirm that the applicant had paid the payroll taxes represented in the PPP applications,” says the criminal affidavit.

Hines was involved in a hit-and-run crash in his new Lamborghini Huracan on July 11. Investigators combed records and found the car belonged to him. Doing a bit more digging they also found the purchase history and were able to tie it to the PPP loan payments. Finding there had not been any payroll payments in spite of that being the basis for the loan the feds sought him out for arrest. 

The court granted Hines a $100,000 bond. He is under GPS-tracked house arrest at his mother’s house. He will be arraigned in October.