HOUSTON — A Houston man who fraudulently obtained $1.6 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans has been sentenced to more than nine years in prison.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, 30-year-old Lee Price III in September pleaded guilty to charges of wire fraud and money laundering. Investigators say he applied for the loans, part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, by submitting fraudulent loan applications to two lenders.
Price, investigators said, sought more than $2.6 million on behalf of three business entities but wound up with a little more than $1.6 million in funds.
Price then spent the money on, among other things, a Lamborghini Urus, a Ford F-350 truck and a Rolex watch. He also used the funds to pay off a loan on a residential property, spent $2,000 at a strip club and $700 at a liquor store.
The Department of Justice was able to seize more than $700,000 of the funds Price received.
In addition, investigators…
