Tampa Man Guilty Of Wire Fraud, Money Laundering In Misuse Of $500,000 COVID-19 Small Business Loan

Summary

A press release of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Florida dated Friday, May 3, 2024, announcing that a federal jury found Barrett Purvis, 54, of Tampa, guilty of wire fraud and money laundering. It states that he faces up to 20 years in federal prison for wire fraud and up to 10 years for money laundering, that sentencing is scheduled for August 12, 2024, and that he was indicted on March 30, 2023. According to testimony and evidence presented at trial, in May 2021 he received a $500,000 Economic Injury Disaster Loan on behalf of a legitimate small business he owned but never intended to use the proceeds as working capital. The release states that he spent about half on gambling debt and the rest on other personal debt within two weeks.

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Full text

Press Release

Tampa Man Guilty Of Wire Fraud, Money Laundering In Misuse Of $500,000 COVID-19 Small Business Loan

Friday, May 3, 2024

For Immediate Release

U.S. Attorney's Office, Middle District of Florida

Tampa, Florida – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces that a federal jury has found Barrett Purvis (54, Tampa) guilty of wire fraud and money laundering. Purvis faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison for the wire fraud offense and up to 10 years’ imprisonment for the money laundering offense. Sentencing is scheduled for August 12, 2024. Purvis was indicted on March 30, 2023.

According to testimony and evidence presented at trial, Purvis applied for and received a $500,000 Economic Injury Disaster Loan from the Small Business Administration during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in May 2021. Although he applied on behalf of a legitimate small business he owned and operated, Purvis never intended to use any of the loan proceeds on working capital as required by the terms of the loan agreement. Instead, Purvis spent approximately half of the proceeds on gambling debt and the rest on other personal debt, including debt incurred on his girlfriend’s three credit cards. Within two weeks of receiving the loan, Purvis had used nearly all the proceeds on personal expenses, unrelated to any legitimate business.

This case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Candace Garcia Rich.

In May 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 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.

Updated May 3, 2024

Topics

Coronavirus

Financial Fraud

Component

USAO - Florida, Middle

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