Too bad he doesn’t get to keep it…
They say crime doesn’t pay, but Darrell Baker of Detroit, aged 56, apparently never heard that before. The man used funds set aside for COVID-19 relief to enrich himself, purchasing several cars as he started one sweet collection he won’t get to play with in prison. This is yet another example of why getting your car collection in legitimate ways is really the way to go, even if you have to settle for less-impressive vehicles.
The U.S. Department of Justice announced Baker was sentenced to 2 years in federal prison for bank fraud and money laundering charges. According to prosecutors, he received $590,000 of taxpayer money for the Paycheck Protection Program, or a PPP loan you’ve probably heard about before.
If you receive such a loan from the government, you’re supposed to be using it for a legitimate business. Well, Baker put down a nonexistent business on his application, probably figuring he was so smart. Then the man proceeded to spend about $170,000 of that to buy 2 Cadillac Escalades, a Hummer, and a Dodge Charger. We certainly hope he at least went with a Hellcat using all of our money.
Sadly, this is far from the first person we’ve covered who fraudulently used a PPP loan to buy some cool cars. Whey people think this is the way to get ahead is a mystery to us, but it’s been fairly common in the last year and we bet this isn’t the last case we hear about. At least Baker realized the gig was up and pleaded guilty, probably getting a good deal from prosecutors in the process, otherwise he’d be serving in prison for a lot longer than 2 years.
As part of his sentencing, Baker was ordered to forfeit the cars he bought, repay $172,484.40 he withdrew from the loan money, and pay restitution of $89,864.
Source: M Live
