Atlanta promoter, entrepreneur indicted for nearly $1M PPP loan fraud

ATLANTA — An Atlanta promoter and entrepreneur has been indicted for receiving a fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program loan worth nearly $1 million for his businesses.

In June 2020, 41-year-old Travis Harris signed a PPP loan application for his business, Atlanta Luxury Cars & Trucks LLC, worth $968,405. Harris’ application was based on fraudulent information about his business’ number of employees, payroll, and revenue, according to officials.

Officials say Harris then deposited the $968,405 into one of his bank accounts for Atlanta Luxury Cars & Trucks LLC.

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“Congress established the Paycheck Protection Program to help small businesses, not to be easy money for anyone willing to lie on a loan application,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan. “We will continue to investigate and prosecute anyone who defrauded taxpayers out of the funds meant to sustain the economy during the COVID-19 crisis.

On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across the government to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud.

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Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

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