Owner of Cryptocurrency Company Charged with COVID-19 Paycheck Protection Program Fraud

A Dallas man who allegedly devised a scheme to defraud a pandemic-era financial program out of hundreds of thousands of dollars has been federally charged, announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Chad E. Meacham.

John Corbin Corona, 35, was indicted on October 5, 2022, on one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering. He was arrested on Monday and made his initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Toliver today.

“As millions of small business owners grappled with the fallout from the pandemic, this defendant raked in a couple hundred thousand bucks at his fellow citizens’ expense,” said U.S. Attorney Chad Meacham. “The Paycheck Protection Program, funded by taxpayers, was designed to help small businesses stay afloat during the pandemic. The Justice Department will relentlessly pursue those who defrauded the PPP.” 

According to the indictment, Mr. Corona – the owner of HODL LLC, a cryptocurrency company operating a purported bitcoin pooled investment fund known as Bitcoin Bank America – fraudulently applied for two Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans totaling over $413,000 through BlueVine Inc. and FundBox, Inc., financial technology companies that partnered with third-party PPP lenders, including Celtic Bank.\

According to the indictment, Mr. Corona inflated HODL LLC’s payroll and misrepresented his business’s number of employees in the PPP loan applications that he submitted to BlueVine and Fundbox. In support of the PPP loan applications, he also submitted IRS Form 941s (Employer’s Quarterly Federal  Tax Return) that allegedly contained false information about his business.

The indictment also alleges that after Celtic Bank deposited $206,902 in PPP loan proceeds into Mr. Corona’s bank account, Mr. Corona transferred over $155,000 in PPP loan funds to Coinbase Inc., a cryptocurrency exchange platform.

An indictment is merely an allegation of criminal conduct, not evidence. Like all defendants, Mr. Corona is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in federal prison on the count of wire fraud, and 10 years on the money laundering count. Upon conviction, he will be required to forfeit the financial proceeds of the scheme or property traceable to it.

The FBI’s Wichita Falls and Dallas field offices conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Fabio Leonardi is prosecuting the case.

The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) was authorized under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, a federal law enacted on March 29, 2020, to provide emergency financial assistance to Americans suffering economic hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The PPP provided forgivable loans to small businesses to cover payroll, rent, and certain -other expenses.