Maurice Fayne, also known as Mo Fayne, pled guilty to six counts of federal bank fraud after being prosecuted for funding his flashy lifestyle with a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Gossip Of The City reported that “Fayne was ordered to forfeit nearly $100K from several bank accounts as well as 8 of his 2015 Kenworth T680 trucks.”
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In exchange for his guilty plea, he has been offered a reduced sentence of 151 months, or 12 and a half years and no longer faces 30 years in prison.
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According to the Department of Justice, the Love & Hip Hop Atlanta star applied for a PPP loan application for his business, Flame Trucking.
Paycheck Protection Protection is a part of the CARES Act. It has provided up to $349 billion in forgivable loans to small businesses to help retain employees and pay interest on mortgages, rent, and utilities.
Fayne reportedly “used more than $1.5 million of the PPP loan proceeds to purchase $85,000 in jewelry, including a Rolex Presidential watch, a diamond bracelet, a 5.73-carat diamond ring for himself, and to pay $40,000 for child support.”
U.S. Attorney Byung J. “BJay” Pak of the Northern District of Georgia said, “The defendant allegedly took advantage of the emergency lending provisions of the Paycheck Protection Program that were intended to assist employees and small businesses battered by the coronavirus.”
When agents searched his home on May 11, they “seized approximately $80,000 in cash, including $9,400 that Fayne had in his pockets, and the jewelry he purchased with the PPP funds, and further discovered a 2019 Rolls-Royce Wraith, which still had a temporary dealer tag on it. Agents also executed seizure warrants for three bank accounts that Fayne owned or controlled and seized approximately $503,000 in PPP funds.”
