Detroit Man Allegedly Used Defunct Business to Buys Cadillacs With Payroll Protection Loan

Here in the car community, most of us probably have some sort of list of dream cars. Many of us will go through great lengths in order to facilitate obtaining these cars. However, sometimes, trying to quench that need for speed simply goes too far. For one Detroit man, he allegedly pushed the limits in order to grab some rides and now he’s likely going to pay for it big time.

Federal prosecutors say that Darrell Baker, 51, of Detroit, allegedly applied for and received a loan as a part of the Payroll Protection Program (PPP). That obviously isn’t a crime. What is a crime is that he allegedly used the money to buy himself two Cadillacs, a Dodge Charger, and a Hummer.

The PPP is part of the plan put in place by the government in order to help small businesses make it through tough times associated with COVID-19.

So how did this case of alleged fraud come to light?

The other part of the case alleges that the solar energy business that Baker took out the loans for is defunct. That’s right, the business is no longer in existence. Investigators say that this business had dissolved in July of 2019. In spite of this Baker was said to have claimed that the entity employed 68 people and had a $2.8 million payroll throughout last year. Addresses listed as business locations were later found to be empty suites and single-family homes, according to the DOJ.

In a statement, U.S. Attorney Matthew Schneider said “Defrauding banks to obtain loans is never acceptable, and doing so during our current national emergency is unconscionable.”

The FBI says that they’re dedicated to taking down those taking advantage of people during a global pandemic. In a perfect world, this would be the last that we hear of something like this. However, we wouldn’t be shocked to hear of more stories like this to come.