PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A Delaware County man has been convicted of defrauding federal COVID-19 assistance programs of millions of dollars.
According to the United States Attorney’s Office, Francis J. Battista, 39, fraudulently applied for 19 loans from the Paycheck Protection Program and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program between March 2020 and June 2021. The programs provided emergency financial assistance to small businesses and their workers who suffered the economic effects of the pandemic.
The Attorney’s Office says he sought more than $10 million in proceeds.
Officials say Battista used his real name for one application and also submitted fake and fabricated supporting documents. For the other applications, he used different identities, even going as far in one instance to falsely renewing the Pennsylvania photo ID card of a dead family friend and having it mailed to his house.
Nine of Battista’s 19 loans were funded. He received $8.4 million in PPP payments and used the windfall to attempt to purchase a waterfront property in Florida, buy a Range Rover, pay his kids' private school tuition, and engage in risky stock moves that lost him millions.
The government has seized about $6.3 million of the funds.
Battista was convicted on 12 counts of wire fraud, three counts of aggravated identity theft, and seven counts of money laundering. He could face a maximum sentence of 316 years.