Man Allegedly Bought Kia Stinger, Yacht with $2.1 Million in Coronavirus Relief Funds
At least it wasn’t a Lambo this time.
Kenneth Gaughan, 41, of Washington, D.C., has been arrested and charged with using $1.5 million of his $2.1 million in COVID-19 Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loan funds to buy a house, a yacht and a Kia Stinger, reports Business Insider. Kudos for bucking the supercar trend in these stories, I guess?
The United States Department of Justice complaint alleges that Gaughan forged paperwork and bank records in order to apply for the funds through several Small Business Administration lenders on behalf of several companies. He allegedly claimed that the companies registered emotional support animals when they did not. As a result, Gaughan has been charged with one count of money laundering, one count of bank fraud, one count of wire fraud and one count of the theft of government funds.
Of the big-ticket items Gaughan is accused of using COVID-19 relief funds for, there was a $1.13 million rowhouse in D.C., a $300,000 2020 Cruisers Yachts 338 CX 33-foot watercraft and a $46,000 2020 Kia Stinger. The Stinger starts at $33,090, so this must have been a nicely optioned example and a somewhat higher trim, although it's worth noting that the base price of the higher Stinger trims, such as the GT2 RWD is more than that. How modest!
Kia haters take note: the U.S. Department of Justice's complaint refers to the Stinger as a "luxury sports sedan." Our little reasonably-priced automaker sure has grown up.
Feds seized the Singer, yacht, and Gaughan's bank and investment accounts. Additionally, they filed a civil forfeiture complaint against the rowhouse.
Over $525 billion in forgivable PPP loans have been approved since the start of the program, Business Insider notes. However, as we've covered before, not all of those funds have gone towards keeping small businesses afloat, with other recipients allegedly using the funds for their own personal gain and major corporations exploiting technicalities to claim the cash. Two other PPP loan recipients have been charged with purchasing Lamborghinis with part of those funds.
This is not the only charge that led to Gaughan's arrest. Gaughan faces a separate charge related to the alleged embezzlement of over $472,000 over the course of eight years from the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, D.C. Gaughan was previously employed there as its Assistant Superintendent.
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