Kamala’s last-ditch pitch to black men is a dream for scammers, fraudsters
Kamala's Last-Ditch Pitch To Black Men Is A Dream For Scammers, Fraudsters
‘Work hard, scam harder’ — New Blaze Originals documentary exposes how fraudsters cashed in on BILLIONS in COVID relief program
A series of crimes defined the COVID-19 pandemic — most of them having to do with gross government overreach. However, there was one scandal where it was the government that got duped.
And that scandal was called PPP loans.
The Paycheck Protection Program was meant to be a COVID relief initiative designed to keep small businesses afloat during the pandemic, but the solution backfired horribly.
What happened?
$200 billion dollars vanished overnight when scammers saw an opportunity to game the system. The heist put even the Bernie Madoff case to shame.
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While you were just trying to keep your head above the water, twelve figures of your tax dollars were going “to jewelry, exotic cars, first class tickets, fancy restaurants, and trips to South Beach,” says BlazeTV's Alex Stein, who traveled across the country to learn how this widespread robbery was pulled off from experts like Peter Schiff, Representative Thomas Massie, and even a former FBI agent.
While scammers were treating the program “like their own personal piggy bank,” they certainly aren’t the only ones to blame. The government’s rules regarding the PPP were loose at best. It made the mistake of leaving the parameters up to the banks, which profited billions of dollars on the loans.
And because the government was footing the bill, reducing the credit risk to 0%, banks, thrilled with the guaranteed profit, were approving loans at unprecedented rates. From fake farms on the beach to globally known corporations, nobody was above or below receiving a PPP loan.
People were essentially just signing up for free cash — and they were doing it unabashedly.
“The program became a viral sensation. People posted Instagram pictures with PPP-financed luxury cars” and “fake LLCs popped up around the country,” says Stein.
But now, the government is cracking down on these fraudsters.
Former FBI agent Jeff Danik, who spent decades working on fraud cases in Miami’s FBI field office, says that these scammers can't hide for much longer.
“A tidal wave is coming,” he warns.
On Wednesday, September 4, “Scamdemic: How Fraudsters Cashed In On Billions” drops on BlazeTV for subscribers. Join the Pimp on a Blimp as he dives into the murky world of PPP loans to find our lost money. And of course, it wouldn't be a Primetime 99 special without an original rap track featuring Forgiato Blow.
If you're not already a subscriber, head over to blazetv.com and use promo code SCAMDEMIC for a seven-day free trial plus $30 off an annual subscription.
Miami real estate agent sentenced to prison for using COVID PPP funds to get Bentley, luxury apartment, and cosmetic procedures: 'Everybody was doing it'
A Miami real estate agent was sentenced to prison for using COVID-19 relief funds from the government to get a Bentley, a luxury apartment, and cosmetic procedures.
Daniela Rendon obtained $381,000 through the Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loans under her company names Rendon PA and Rendon Holdings, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Florida. To qualify for PPP loans, she is accused of falsifying her revenue, number of employees, and payroll at her real estate business, then submitting fraudulent IRS tax forms.
USA Today reported, "She then enrolled her friends, family members, and herself as employees of Rendon PA to disperse the checks, according to the indictment."
She purportedly wrote a 30-page thesis explaining the economic and social effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and suggested a plan to launch non-profit organizations to support those affected by the pandemic.
Rendon – a self-described "Ultra Luxury" real estate agent on LinkedIn – submitted the fabricated reports to lenders in New Jersey and Idaho, according to the Miami Herald. Rendon reportedly used the payroll processor in New Jersey to facilitate the COVID relief loans through her corporate bank account. She then allegedly issued the checks to family and friends.
The Florida real estate agent used that fraudulently obtained funds from the Small Business Administration to lease a 2021 Bentley Bentayga, rent a luxury Biscayne Bay apartment, pay for cosmetic procedures, and refinish her designer shoes. Rendon reportedly operated the scam between April 2020 to April 2022.
The 31-year-old mother of three was charged with seven counts of wire fraud, two counts of money laundering, and one count of aggravated identity theft. She faced a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
On Thursday, Rendon pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud in April 2023 after the prosecutors dropped all of the other charges. She was sentenced to three and a half years in prison – the shortest prison sentence recommended by sentencing guidelines. Rendon will be under supervised release and owes nearly $200,000 in restitution.
Rendon said her fraudulent actions were "motivated by insatiable greed."
She said in a statement to the court, "Looking back, it becomes all too tempting to utter the words 'everybody was doing it' as a feeble attempt to rationalize my actions. I regretfully confess that I once foolishly believed that the victims of my crimes were merely the faceless entities of the U.S. Government."
In June, the Office of Inspector General of the Small Business Administration released a report that found that the federal government lost more than $200 billion in COVID-19 pandemic relief funds to potential fraud, waste, and abuse.
The report estimated that at least 17% of the total COVID relief funds valued at $1.2 trillion were stolen through fraud schemes.
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