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Russell Laraway, 56, of Leesburg, admitted he fraudulently claimed more than $400,000 in a COVID relief fund scheme, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Jessica D. Aber said.
Being busted by the feds ultimately may have saved Laraway, though, who allegedly gave some of his hard-earned cash to foreign entities "in scams of which he was a victim," Aber's office said.
According to court documents, Laraway incorporated two business entities that he purported to operate out of his home in Leesburg: Loudoun Innovation LLC (“LI LLC”) and Commonwealth Commerce LLC (“CC LLC”), Aber said.
Beginning in April 2020, Laraway submitted loan applications through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), a COVID-19 relief program that was intended to provide loans backed by the Small Business Administration to certain businesses, nonprofit organizations, and other entities to help them retain their employees or stay afloat during the pandemic.
In his applications, Laraway inflated the numbers of people his business entities employed and falsified payroll expenses and revenues for each company, federal authorities said.
Laraway sought loan forgiveness for some of the PPP loans by falsely certifying that the PPP money had been used solely for payroll or other authorized purposes, while he actually intended to use the money to engage in spurious investment ventures and pay off personal debts, Aber said.
Laraway fraudulently received two PPP loans for LI LLC and two PPP loans for CC LLC. The four PPP loans totaled approximately $488,952, "some of which Laraway paid to foreign entities in scams of which he was a victim," Aber's office said.
On Wednesday, March 6, Laraway pleaded guilty today to wire fraud for his scheme to defraud a federal COVID-19 relief plan. He is scheduled to be sentenced on July 25 and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
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