DENVER — Two Colorado residents have been indicted in U.S. District Court of Colorado for allegedly defrauding the U.S. government of nearly $1 million in COVID-19 relief funds.
Robert Crust, 46, and Bethany Williams, 44, were charged with a combined seven counts of wire fraud and money laundering by a federal grand jury for allegedly participating in a scheme to defraud the Small Business Administration and lenders to obtain emergency COVID-19 relief funds, according to a news release.
Crust used to live in Greeley and Williams is a resident of Parker, the release states.
Federal prosecutors said Crust made or submitted loan applications and documents that contained material misrepresentations so he could obtain loans on behalf of three Colorado businesses that he owned or managed. He is also accused of submitting fake documents to lenders, including tax forms and a payroll report that Crust manipulated to falsely inflate the number of employees and payroll.
Williams, prosecutors said, also made “materially false statements” in connection with two loan applications on behalf of one of the businesses.
In all, the three businesses collectively received nearly $1 million in loans, according to prosecutors.
“Despite representing in the loan documents that the funds would be used for legitimate business expenses,” Crust and Williams used COVID-19 relief funds for personal expenses, including airline travel and hotel accommodations while vacationing in Las Vegas. Some of that money was also used by Crust to purchase a 2012 BMW X5 vehicle, a Jaguar E-PACE vehicle, and a boat, the indictment alleges.
Last week, Williams made her initial court appearance in for a U.S. magistrate judge and a day later, Crust was arrested in Tampa, Fla., and appeared before another U.S. magistrate judge a day later.
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.
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