Tristan Pan, a 38-year-old man living in North Carolina, allegedly sought more than $6 million in PPP loans using fake Game of Thrones-based companies named The Night’s Watch, White Walker, and Khalessi, as well as a fake Pan Insurance Agency company, according to the Department of Justice. Pan allegedly submitted 14 PPP loan applications seeking more than $6.1 million in coronavirus aide and had received $1.7 million via approved loan applications for the fictional Pan Insurance Agency and the White Walker, LLC. According to his indictment, he made “false statements about the companies’ employees and payroll expenses,” which was seemingly supported by “fake documents, including falsified tax filings.” Pan has since been charged with wire fraud, bank fraud, and engaging in unlawful monetary transactions after an investigation by the U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Office of Inspector General, and the FBI, with the assistance of the Small Business Administration Office of Inspector General. RELATED: For more up-to-date information, sign up for our daily newsletter. These PPP loans Pan sought were created through the CARES Act, a federal law that was enacted on March 29 to help provide emergency financial aide to millions of Americans facing economic suffering as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. One source of coronavirus relief from the CARES Act are the PPP loans, which businesses must only use for “payroll costs, interest on mortgages, rent and utilities,” according to the Department of Justice.ae0fcc31ae342fd3a1346ebb1f342fcb But Pan isn’t the only one who has been accused of illegally trying to secure coronavirus relief. During a press conference on Sept. 10, Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian Rabbitt said that more than 50 people have allegedly tried to commit fraud to net more than $175 million from the CARES Act through PPP loans. He said the actual loss has been more than $70 million. “PPP funds were intended to help keep American businesses afloat. They were intended to help ordinary, everyday Americans pay their bills and put food on the table,” Rabbitt said. “The money these defendants stole was taxpayer money; every dollar received was a dollar drawn from the American people’s account. Even worse, every dollar they took was a dollar set aside to help our fellow Americans weather one of the worst national crises in recent history.” But if you’re looking to make money the right way, check out This Is the State Where You Can Make the Most Money.
