LAS VEGAS (AP) — Authorities say a Nevada man with a felony record in Wyoming has been indicted on federal fraud charges in Las Vegas after illegally receiving more than $1.6 million in coronavirus relief money.
Bryan Robinson, 37, of Henderson, is accused of accepting more than $1.5 million in Paycheck Protection Program forgivable loans and $150,000 in Economic Injury Disaster Relief money for a dance company named A Team that he said had 37 employees. Prosecutors say he paid wages to no one.
“He used the funds for personal expenses and transfers to other businesses,” U.S. Attorney Nicholas Trutanich said.
Robinson’s applications certified that he had not been convicted of a felony within the last five years. But prosecutors said he pleaded guilty in November 2018 to felony drug possession in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and was serving three years’ probation when he applied for the PPP loan and Economic Injury Disaster Relief funds.
Robinson was initially charged in August. He was indicted Dec. 9 and pleaded not guilty Friday in U.S. District
Court in Las Vegas to wire fraud and engaging in transactions in unlawful proceeds. He is free on bond pending trial Feb. 8.
Marcello told the Las Vegas Review-Journal he will fight the charges and that his client’s actions “were appropriate and in compliance with the rules at the time.”
Funds were disbursed under a federal law enacted by Congress in March and April to provide emergency financial assistance to people suffering the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, including forgivable loans to small businesses for keeping jobs and payroll expenses.