MA Pizza Shop Owner Faces 40 Yrs Prison – Lied for PPP Loan, Bought Alpaca Farm

Oh, the elusive Paycheck Protection Program, aka the PPP loan; some people got it, some didn’t. Some people have to pay it back, some don’t. As with all government-run programs, it’s doubtful that only the deserved and qualified received the loans. One such man lucky enough to beat the system at the time has now been caught.

Dana McIntyre, 57, lied about the number of employees he had in order to get a nice chunk of change, over $660,000 in federal COVID-19 relief funds. McIntyre is the owner of a Massachusetts pizza parlor but used some of the money to buy, and then stock, an alpaca farm in Vermont.

According to a released statement from the U.S. attorney’s office in Boston, McIntyre was arrested Tuesday and charged with wire fraud and money laundering.  In an email, McIntyre’s attorney wrote “my client denies the allegation and will have further comment at a later date.”

ABC News reports “in his application, he falsified an official tax form and claimed the pizza shop had almost 50 employees when records indicate it had fewer than 10, in an effort to inflate the size of the loan he was entitled to, authorities said.”

Once he obtained the money, “he sold the pizza shop and used the money to purchase and upgrade a farm in Vermont and buy several alpacas.” McIntyre “also bought two vehicles – including a 1950 Hudson – and weekly airtime for a cryptocurrency-themed radio show that he hosted, prosecutors said.” If convicted on the two charges, he faces up to forty years in prison and $750,000 in fines.