Two Montana men charged with $1 million COVID-19 relief fraud scheme | USAO-MT | #phishing | #scams | #cybersecurity | #infosecurity | #hacker

Two Montana men charged with $1 million COVID-19 relief fraud scheme | USAO-MT | #phishing | #scams | #cybersecurity | #infosecurity | #hacker

BILLINGS – Two Montana men were arraigned recently on charges in connection with a scheme to defraud a bank of approximately $1 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans and to use those funds for their personal benefit, including buying property and vehicles, Acting U.S. Attorney Leif M. Johnson said today.


Trevor Gene Lanius-McLeod, also known as Trevor Gene McLeod, 48, of Laurel, and Kasey Jones Wilson, 29, of Helena, each pleaded not guilty to an indictment charging them with bank fraud and with engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from specified unlawful activity. If convicted of the most serious crime, the defendants face a maximum 30 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release.


Lanius-McLeod was arraigned on July 27 before U.S. Magistrate Judge John T. Johnston in Great Falls. Wilson was arraigned on July 27 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Timothy J. Cavan in Billings. Both defendants were released pending further proceedings.


The government alleged in court documents, that from about April 2020 to December 2020, the defendants applied for and received four PPP loans totaling $1,043,000 through Valley Bank of Helena, a Division of Glacier Bank, on behalf of four business entities. Lanius-McLeod applied for funds as the authorized representative of T. McLeod Holdings LLC, Hilltop Estates LLC, and Renovated Montana Properties LLP. Lanius-McLeod and Wilson applied for funds as the authorized representatives of Step Above Management LLC. In the applications, the defendants made numerous false statements about having paid payroll taxes and having employees. In promissory notes, the defendants agreed to use the loan funds for payroll costs, costs related to group health care benefits and insurance premiums, rent, utilities, interest on payments on debt and refinancing a Small Business Administration Economic Injury Disaster Loan. Instead, the defendants spent the funds on personal ex ..

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