Texas man charged with using coronavirus relief funds to invest in crypto

[bbc.reporter]

Consensys, IOHK Cardano, Tron, Polychain Capital, Zcash Electric coin company also received the PPP bail out loans. The American government should audit them where the relief funds went also hehehe.



A Texas resident has been charged by U.S. officials with using government funds from a coronavirus-related relief program to trade cryptocurrencies.

In a June 14 press statement, the Department of Justice alleged that Joshua Thomas Argires "fraudulently obtained more than $1.1 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans" by filing false applications on behalf of two companies, Texas Barbecue and Houston Landscaping. CoinDesk first covered the charges.

Read in full https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/71543/texas-man-charged-with-using-coronavirus-relief-funds-to-invest-in-crypto

[Furryball]

People are getting the whole thing wrong about crypto, this space is not a safe haven for stolen funds and illegal activities honestly, your money will be overpowered before you know it, centralized entity or government can't have access to your keys but your address can be blacklisted, criminals should stay away from crypto space honestly

[hatshepsut93]

Title makes it sound like he lawfully obtained the funds, but teh evil guvernment punished him for buying crypto. But what actually happened is that he stole money from government/taxpayers by claiming that he'll use them to pay salaries to employees, while not actually having any employees - this a fraud, cut and dried. And he didn't invest in crypto for long term, he was merely using it as transport for his  stolen money.

[Docbee]

This is kinda funny though, may be the man wanted to make quick investment hoping for a quick returns so that he can return the fund ASAP.  Notwithstanding, that's not good enough, this is a space where all the fund can be lost withing few minutes/hours. What will now be the lots of people that have been ravaged by the pandemic.  All in the name of investment, we shouldn't do things at the detriment of others.

[Thomas-s]

I am sure that when the coronavirus will pass, we will see so much news about the corruption activities of the authorities that were covered by a pandemic. Such people should be punished with all the severity of the law.

[Ken_terrance]

This is kinda funny though, may be the man wanted to make quick investment hoping for a quick returns so that he can return the fund ASAP.  Notwithstanding, that's not good enough, this is a space where all the fund can be lost withing few minutes/hours. What will now be the lots of people that have been ravaged by the pandemic.  All in the name of investment, we shouldn't do things at the detriment of others.

You think he can Dodge the fund without leaking out? That's impossible, you will need to use the money to buy crypto that's why it will be traceable, criminals are really stupid at times, you can't use stolen funds to buy crypto, it's still traceable no matter what.

[irixo10]

Honestly I do not know what he was thinking of, that it's easy to use government funds for personal reasons without being caught. Although I am not supporting him, but I have the mindset he might have invested the money hoping for a good gain such that he will return the money and take his gains but looks like everything worked against him; that is, he kinda gambled with the money while forgetting that the crypto space is one which cannot be predicted. Nevertheless I hope others will learn from this and hence making good decisions.

[iTradeChips]

Title makes it sound like he lawfully obtained the funds, but teh evil guvernment punished him for buying crypto. But what actually happened is that he stole money from government/taxpayers by claiming that he'll use them to pay salaries to employees, while not actually having any employees - this a fraud, cut and dried. And he didn't invest in crypto for long term, he was merely using it as transport for his  stolen money.

Yup, that is fraud. Shame that he is using the pandemic as an excuse to commit illegal acts. Many countries has made "emergency" laws (emergency in a sense that the bureaucratic process to speed up the passage of laws has been sped up so it can be implemented right away) that criminalize any acts pertaining to the Pandemic related fraud and mismanagement of funds. There are even cases in my area where those who have received aid and used it in the purchase of alcohol and gambling were arrested and their remaining funds taken away from them and then blacklisting them from receiving further help from the local government. I mean these are poor people who receives aid only to use it to drink booze and gamble while their families didn't receive any sort of material or food sustenance from the receiver of the money. Very sad to see those people succumb to vices at the time of the pandemic.

[VDraci]

Honestly Fiat is better to illegal funds not crypto, everything crypto is transparency, you can't get away with illegal money in crypto space, the fact is buying crypto requires money (Fiat) and selling crypto for Fiat requires your KYC and bank details, you can't get away with illegal money in crypto

[VDraci]

Hackers for example, who stolen funds from exchanges are stuck because their addresses are blacklisted, meaning the stolen coins or tokens have become useless for them

[havoc928]

Title makes it sound like he lawfully obtained the funds, but teh evil guvernment punished him for buying crypto. But what actually happened is that he stole money from government/taxpayers by claiming that he'll use them to pay salaries to employees, while not actually having any employees - this a fraud, cut and dried. And he didn't invest in crypto for long term, he was merely using it as transport for his  stolen money.

Yes!! This is why we need to read everything carefully before judging! The man is charged because he did the wrong thing in claiming tax to receive the covid19 relief fund. It means he unlawfully receives the money that doesn't belong to him. It doesn't matter how he uses that money, whether he used it to buy daily stuff, ice cream, or cryptocurrency, he'll be charged anyway! I think OP should change the title in avoidance of misunderstanding!

[maydna]

I am sure that when the coronavirus will pass, we will see so much news about the corruption activities of the authorities that were covered by a pandemic. Such people should be punished with all the severity of the law.

I hope that the charity funds for Coronavirus are not used for fraudulent from people in charge of that money. They cannot use that money because that money will distribute to people who needed and suffer because of the Coronavirus. Yes, I agree that such people must get punishment from the law, and if necessary, they can work for social to see how hard the people live out there. Many people are trying to survive while they use the money to investing in crypto. It is not commendable.