A former Revere business owner has agreed to plead guilty to filing fraudulent applications to obtain a $2.5 million Paycheck Protection Program loan.
Vinicius Santana, 34, a former Revere resident who now lives in Boca Raton, Florida, has been charged with one count of wire fraud and one count of unlawful monetary transactions, according to a statement from the U.S. attorney’s office. Santana was arrested in June, and a hearing for his plea agreement has not been scheduled, the statement said.
According to the charging document, Santana owned a painting company, Complete Home Care LLC, in Massachusetts. Santana submitted four different PPP loan applications in April 2020 on behalf of Complete Home Care. The first three applications allegedly listed five employees and an average monthly payroll of between $10,000 and $18,000. These applications were denied.
In the fourth application, prosecutors allege that Santana falsely claimed to have 154 employees and an average monthly payroll of $1 million. On May 11, 2020, a bank issued Santana’s company a $2.5 million loan based on allegedly false representations in the fourth application, the statement said. Court documents show the application was made through Lendio to Northeast Bank.
After receiving the funds, Santana allegedly misused the loan proceeds to buy real estate and cars and to invest in cryptocurrency, according to the statement.
