Apollo Beach businessman charged in $4.8M COVID fraud

A Hillsborough County businessman, if convicted in an alleged COVID relief funds case, might be ordered to forfeit his ill-gotten gains, a list that includes $4.8 million; a Mercedes Benz G-Wagon; and a Nebraska hotel.

Caleb Walsh, 36, of Apollo Beach, is facing charges of bank fraud, wire fraud and illegal monetary transactions, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. If convicted on all counts, Walsh faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in federal prison. In addition, the government will seek a forfeiture order of at least $4,823,233, a 2020 Mercedes Benz G550 SUV, a hotel in Lincoln, Nebraska and $117,534 in Bitcoin cryptocurrency, which the Justice Department says are all traceable proceeds of the alleged fraud. 

Between March 2020 and March 2021, investigators say Walsh devised a scheme to defraud multiple federally-insured financial institutions and another lender by submitting false and fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program loan applications with the U.S. Small Business Administration in the names of several companies he controlled, according to his indictment. Those companies include Columbus Partners Community Trust; JonRuth Capital Inc.; Midwest by South LLC; Urban Bay Housing Fund LLC; and Parks Management LLC. 

The SBA loan programs were part of a relief package passed during the pandemic to help small businesses survive the government shutdown and its aftermath. 

According to his indictment, Walsh misrepresented the number of employees in his businesses, average monthly payroll costs and falsely certified that the PPP funds would be used for permissible expenses. Walsh also allegedly submitted false IRS tax forms to the government erroneously showing his companies paid millions of dollars in payroll and submitted altered and fictitious bank statements in the names of his companies. 

Once the money came in, Walsh then used those PPP proceeds to illegally purchase the luxury vehicle from Mercedes-Benz of Tampa, invest in the purchase of a hotel in Nebraska, purchase cryptocurrency and buy private jet flights to Mexico for himself and his family, the indictment contends. 

The case was investigated by the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force, which was formed by the Attorney General in May 2021 to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The task force worked alongside the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Office of Inspector General, the IRS Criminal Investigation bureau, the FBI and the U.S. Small Business administration. It will be prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Chris Poor.