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Long Island resident Donald Finley, age 61, of Roslyn, the owner of Jekyll & Hyde Restaurant in Manhattan and the Bayville Adventure Park in Nassau County, pleaded guilty to disaster relief fraud and wire fraud on Thursday, May 25.
As stated in court filings by the US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Breon Peace:
- Between March 2020 and March 2021, amid the COVID pandemic, Finley fraudulently applied for, and received, at least 29 PPP and EIDLP loans totaling approximately $3.2 million, on behalf of corporate entities he controlled.
- Instead of using the funds for disaster relief, Finley diverted them for personal use, including the purchase of a home in Nantucket, Massachusetts, in February 2021, the filing stated.
US Postal Inspection Service Inspector-in-Charge Daniel Brubaker stated: “Mr. Finley took advantage of a program intended to be used to support small businesses as part of the CARES Act of 2020, when he devised a scheme to submit fraudulent information to the government to obtain millions in funds during the pandemic to fund his lavish lifestyle.
"Not only did he purchase a home on Nantucket, but he utilized those funds to pay for personal expenses. Postal Inspectors and their law enforcement partners are always on a mission to ensure those who truly need assistance get it, and those who scheme and break the law to receive funds which they are not entitled to, are brought to justice."
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