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Federal agents who raided Fayne’s Georgia home this week said they seized roughly $80,000 in cash -- including $9,400 that they said he had in his pockets.
The 37-year-old Fayne secured the loan in the name of a corporation that he called Flame Trucking to support 107 employees and an average monthly payroll of just under $1.5 million, a U.S. Justice Department prosecutor said.
Asking for $3,725,500, he formally certified that the loan proceeds would be used to “retain workers and maintain payroll or make mortgage interest payments, lease payments, and utility payments, as specified under the Paycheck Protection Program Rule,” records show.
United Community Bank funded $2,045,800, records show.
Within days, Fayne bought himself a Rolex Presidential watch, a diamond bracelet and the fat diamond ring, while paying $40,000 in child support, Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski said in a statement.
Fayne “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,” Benczkowski said.
Federal agents found a 2019 Rolls-Royce Wraith that still had a temporary dealer tag on it during the raid, the assistant attorney general said.
They also seized more than $500,000 in PPP funds from three bank accounts that Fayne owned or controlled, he said.
The PPP was created under the federal CARES Act, enacted on March 29, to help employees and small businesses decimated by the coronavirus pandemic.
One source of relief under the CARES Act is authorization of up to $349 billion in forgivable loans to small businesses for job retention and certain other expenses (PPP).
The PPP allows qualifying small-businesses and other organizations to receive loans with a maturity of two years and an interest rate of 1%.
PPP loan proceeds must be used by businesses on payroll costs, interest on mortgages, rent, and utilities.
The PPP allows the interest and principal to be forgiven if businesses spend the proceeds on these expenses within eight weeks of receipt and use at least 75% of the forgiven amount for payroll.
“At a time when small businesses are struggling for survival, we cannot tolerate anyone driven by personal greed, who misdirects federal emergency assistance earmarked for keeping businesses afloat,” said Special Agent in Charge Chris Hacker of the FBI’s Atlanta Field Office.
The FBI and the Small Business Association Office of Inspector General (SBA OIG) Eastern Region conducted the investigation.
Assistant Chief L. Rush Atkinson of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Russell Phillips, Bernita Malloy, and Michael J. Brown of the Northern District of Georgia are prosecuting the case.
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