Fraud charges for ‘serial entrepreneur’ Justin Cheng, who bought Rolex and Mercedes with US coronavirus relief loans
- Taiwanese man charged after allegedly misrepresenting employee payroll figures for multiple companies
- US programme grants forgivable loans to small businesses to cover salaries, expenses during pandemic
US prosecutors announced Tuesday criminal fraud charges against a Taiwanese man who spent nearly US$3 million in small business loans on a 18-carat gold Rolex watch, a Mercedes and other luxury items.
Authorities arrested Cheng Sheng-wen, 24, and released details of an alleged scheme in which he claimed as employees numerous celebrities, professional athletes and other public figures, including one who was dead.
The group included a television co-anchor, a former National Football League player and a prominent Penn State football coach who is deceased, said a press release from the US Attorneys office in New York.
The defendant, also known as Justin Cheng, presented his company as having more than 200 employees to obtain US$7 million from federal programmes, including the Small Business Administration’s Paycheque Protection Programme (PPP).
In reality, Cheng’s enterprises had no more than 14 employees, the Justice Department said, which named several of his companies: Alchemy Finance, Alchemy Guarantor, Celer Offer, Celeri Network, Celeri Treasury, and Wynston York. They were known collectively as “Cheng Companies”.
“While small business owners throughout the country sought loans from the Paycheque Protection Programme in order to pay employee wages and maintain basic business functions, Justin Cheng, a self-proclaimed “serial entrepreneur” acquired more than US$3 million in financial relief, which he then used for personal benefit,” said FBI Assistant Director William Sweeney Jnr.
