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Former Colorado Springs man sentenced for defrauding COVID-19 Relief Program

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DENVER, Colo. (KRDO) - The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado announced that a former Colorado Springs man has been sentenced to federal prison after being found guilty of defrauding the taxpayer-funded COVID-19 Relief Program.

According to the Department of Justice (DOJ), 67-year-old Charles Lacona Jr., formerly of Colorado Springs, was sentenced to 24 months in federal prison and is ordered to pay $549, 274.14 in restitution after he was found guilty by a federal jury of two counts of wire fraud and one count of money laundering related to fraudulent COVID-19 related funds he received through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).

The DOJ said according to court records, between April 2020 and April 2021, Lacona devised and participated in a scheme to defraud a lender of $513,732.50 in PPP loans. Lacona inflated payroll costs and gross receipts, made false statements and certifications, and submitted fabricated tax documents and payroll reports. During that same period, Lacona unsuccessfully applied for additional emergency government assistance through the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program. Lacona used some of the fraudulently obtained funds to purchase a Cadillac CT6 for $67,704.13.

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form

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Tyler Dumas

Tyler is a Digital Content Producer for KRDO

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