Man buys Lamborghini using Rs. 29 crore from COVID-19 relief funds

A man from Florida has been arrested after he was found guilty of buying a Lamborghini sports car among other luxury goods using nearly USD 4 million (~ Rs. 29 crore) which he received from the paycheck protection program (PPP) meant to help small businesses hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

According to a report, three PPP applications were approved by the Bank of America for the accused, identified as Hines. In each application, he allegedly claimed 70 employees, with monthly payroll expenses totalling $4 million. However, his accounts of preceding months indicated monthly inflows and outflows of $200,000 and payments resembling payroll were for small amounts to just 12 people. Hines was arrested and charged with making false statements to a lending institution, bank fraud, and engaging in transactions in unlawful proceeds after he was found cruising around Florida’s Miami Beach, in a new blue Lamborghini Huracan Evo, which cost more than $318,000. “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,” a U.S. Postal inspector reportedly said in an affidavit.

“Within days of receiving the PPP funds, Hines purchased a 2020 Lamborghini Huracan sports car for approximately $318,000, which he registered jointly in his name and the name of one of his companies,” prosecutors said, according to a report by a news agency.