Day Trader Who Used PPP Money to Buy Tesla Stock Is Thrown in Prison

An Oregon man who lied his way into getting $3.4 million in federal COVID relief funds, before pouring it into Tesla stock, has been sent to prison for four years. Andrew Aaron Lloyd, 51, was granted forgivable Paycheck Protection Program loans when he falsely said he employed hundreds of people in various home care, shopping, and construction businesses. Through “sheer dumb luck,” he transferred $1.8 million of the windfall to a brokerage account that purchased Tesla stock that soared in value to $13 million, prosecutors said. Along the way, he purchased 25 rental properties in Oregon and California valued at $5 million. However, his nine loan applications included identical employee information for different businesses, raising the suspicion of the IRS, FBI, and Small Business Administration. The feds have since seized $18 million in securities and cash from Lloyd’s accounts and, in addition to his prison sentence, he has been ordered to pay $4 million in restitution.