Former Colorado Springs Man Convicted Of Defrauding $500k Of Taxpayer Funded COVID-19 Relief Money

Summary

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Colorado announced that Charles Lacona, Jr., 67, formerly of Colorado Springs, was found guilty by a federal jury on two counts of wire fraud and one count of money laundering over Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funds. According to the facts established at trial, between April 2020 and April 2021 he devised and participated in a scheme to defraud a lender of $513,732.50 in PPP loans, inflating payroll costs and gross receipts and submitting fabricated tax documents and payroll reports. He used some of the money to buy a Cadillac CT6 for $67,704.13 and unsuccessfully applied for additional assistance through the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program. Judge Daniel D. Domenico presided, and sentencing was left for a later date.

Summary drafted by a model from the document's text below and checked by script against that text before publication. It is a navigation aid, not a reading of what the document proves. Where AI is used

Full text

# Former Colorado Springs Man Convicted Of Defrauding $500k Of Taxpayer Funded COVID-19 Relief Money

- Source URL: https://www.justice.gov/usao-co/pr/former-colorado-springs-man-convicted-defrauding-500k-taxpayer-funded-covid-19-relief
- DOJ UUID: a1a6be8f-1846-4fee-b72e-13fda28704ee
- Date Published: 2024-09-23
- Source Office: USAO - Colorado
- District Code: CO
- Date Retrieved: 2026-06-27
- Matched Search Terms: COVID fraud; COVID relief; COVID relief fraud; COVID-19 relief; covid-19 fraud
- Body SHA-256: 64a8f96703dc1851d953506d6f8214b78a9f3f8691e4fc02f68ba815dadcfc23

## Body

DENVER – The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado announces that Charles Lacona, Jr., 67, formerly of Colorado Springs, was found guilty by a federal jury on two counts of wire fraud and one count of money laundering related to fraudulent COVID-19 related funds he received through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).
According to the facts established at trial, between April 2020 and April 2021, Lacona devised and participated in a scheme to defraud a lender of $513,732.50 in PPP loans. Lacona inflated payroll costs and gross receipts, made false statements and certifications, and submitted fabricated tax documents and payroll reports.  During that same period, Lacona unsuccessfully applied for additional emergency government assistance through the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program.  Lacona used some of the fraudulently obtained funds to purchase a Cadillac CT6 for $67,704.13.
“This is another case of someone using for personal gain a program meant to help people suffering during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Acting United States Attorney for the District of Colorado Matt Kirsch. “I want the public to know that we are aggressively prosecuting people who stole from this relief program.”
"These federal programs were designed to help families and small businesses facing financial challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic," said Tom Demeo, Acting Special Agent in Charge, IRS Criminal Investigation Denver Field Office. "Through our partnership with the U.S. Attorney's Office, IRS Criminal Investigation will continue to aggressively pursue individuals who attempt to exploit federal relief programs for their personal benefit."
United States District Court Judge Daniel D. Domenico presided over the trial. IRS Criminal Investigation handled the investigation. Assistant United States Attorneys Craig Fansler and Nicole Cassidy handled the prosecution.
Sentencing will be held at a later date.
On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, among other methods, augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. For more information on the Department’s response to the pandemic, please visit
https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus
.
On July 11, 2023, the Attorney General selected the District of Colorado’s U.S. Attorney’s Office to head one of five national COVID-19 Fraud Strike Force Teams. The Department of Justice established the Strike Force to enhance existing efforts to combat and prevent COVID-19 related financial fraud.  The Strike Force combines law enforcement and prosecutorial resources and focuses on large-scale, multistate pandemic relief fraud perpetrated by criminal organizations and transnational actors, as well as those who committed multiple instances of pandemic relief fraud. The Strike Force uses prosecutor-led and data analyst-driven teams to identify and bring to justice those who stole pandemic relief funds. Additional information regarding the Strike Force may be found at
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-announces-results-nationwide-covid-19-fraud-enforcement-action
.
Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at:
https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form

File and source

File: 2024-09-23_former-colorado-springs-man-convicted-of-defrauding-500k-of-taxpayer-fun_a1a6be8f.md
Size: 4,604 bytes
SHA-256: 043189602b3c22f73c5ee35a96232850da6e2fceb3b4f955572caa4de07b1b92
Our copy: 2024-09-23_former-colorado-springs-man-convicted-of-defrauding-500k-of-taxpayer-fun_a1a6be8f.md
Original: www.justice.gov