*Maurice “Mo” Fayne of “Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta” fame has been indicted by a federal grand jury for scamming millions out of the government’s coronavirus loan program.
As reported by PEOPLE, Fayne, 37, applied for a PPP loan for a corporation called Flame Trucking on April 15, to pay employees and other business expenses.
Instead, he spent much of the $2,045,800 on himself.
Fayne allegedly used over $1.5 million of the loan to buy $85,000 worth of jewelry, including a Rolex Presidential watch, a diamond bracelet and a 5.73 carat diamond ring. He also spent $40,000 on child support, prosecutors said.
When federal agents interviewed him on May 6, Fayne denied the allegations.
But a search of his home turned up all the evidence the agents needed to support their case against him, including the jewelry, $80,000 in cash, $9,400 that Fayne had in his pockets, and a 2019 Rolls-Royce Wraith. They also seized a little over $500K in PPP funds from three of his bank accounts, the report states.
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“The defendant allegedly stole money meant to assist hard-hit employees and businesses during these difficult times, and instead greedily used the money to bankroll his lavish purchases of jewelry and other personal items,” said assistant attorney general Brian A. Benczkowski in a statement.
“The defendant allegedly egregiously sought personal gain from a program intended to assist hardworking Americans in this challenging time. SBA OIG and its law enforcement partners will aggressively pursue allegations of wrongdoing to maintain the integrity of SBA’s programs,” said Special Agent in Charge Kevin Kupperbusch of the Small Business Association Office of Inspector General (SBA OIG) Eastern Region.
According to Page Six, Fayne has also been charged with wire fraud charges for allegedly running a six-year Ponzi scheme to cover his gambling habit.
The reality star “posed as the owner of a profitable trucking business” whereas, in fact, the firm “never generated enough revenue to cover its expenses,” prosecutors said in a statement.
“Nevertheless, Fayne caused approximately 20 individuals to invest over $5 million in his trucking business,” the statement said.
“Fayne used the investors’ money to pay his personal debts and expenses, and to fund an extravagant lifestyle for himself.”
He even “transferred more than $5 million to a casino to cover his personal gambling and entertainment expenses,” the release says.
Fayne has been slapped with bank fraud and money laundering charges and for making a false statement to a federally-insured financial institution over the PPP loan.
He was arrested on May 11 and is out on bond.
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