A Florida man was arrested after it was discovered that he was using money he received as part of coronavirus relief programs to buy luxury items including a $318,000 Lamborghini Huracán. Miami resident David T. Hines, 29, is said to have received more than $3.9 million from the Paycheck Protection Program, but now he’s behind bars.
- Hines has gone from having everything to nothing at all. David T. Hines has not only been arrested and charged, but he’s also had his precious Lambo seized as well as the cash from his bank account, which is said to have totaled a whopping $3.4 million at the time of his arrest.
- The money was supposed to go to those who needed it. The Small Business Administration loan program was meant to help struggling businesses during coronavirus, and Hines claimed on the basis of needing it for his struggling moving business during lockdown. The money was supposed to go towards protecting employee wages and paying rent on business premises, but that’s not what happened.
- Hines must have thought he hit the lottery. In addition to the fancy car, David T. Hines was said to have been splashing out cash on jewelry and clothes, funding for dating websites, and staying overnight at expensive hotels like Miami Beach’s Fontainebleau and Setai, according to The Miami Herald.
- Turns out, he’s a bit of a liar. The Department of Justice said that Hines lied on his loan applications by making “numerous false and misleading statements” about employee salaries and his business expenses. As US Postal Inspector Bryan Masmela said in an affidavit obtained by The Miami Herald, “Those purported employees either did not exist or earned a fraction of what Hines claimed in his PPP applications. Collectively, Hines falsely claimed his companies paid millions of dollars in payroll in the first quarter of 2020. State and bank records, however, show little to no payroll expense during this period.”
- Now, David T. Hines is in a world of trouble. After appearing before US Chief Magistrate Judge John J. O’Sullivan on July 28 in Florida’s Southern District, Hines was charged with one count of engaging in transactions in unlawful proceeds, one count of giving false statements to a financial institution, and one count of bank fraud. According to The New York Times, that could get him up to 70 years behind bars.
- He’ll appear in court on October 14. For now, Hines has been granted $100,000 bail and is on house arrest at his mother’s house until his arraignment in October.
