A Cobb County man has been indicted on multiple charges after federal officials accused him of taking out a $9.5 million Paycheck Protection Program loan for a fake company and spending the money on himself.
Carl Delano Torjagbo, 42, of Marietta, was indicted by a federal grand jury Tuesday and arraigned on charges of bank fraud and money laundering, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia Ryan K. Buchanan said in a news release.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, Torjagbo, also known as Karl Lucius Delano, applied for a PPP loan for a fictitious company. A $9.5 million loan, funded by the CARES Act intended to provide relief for small businesses suffering from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, was granted to Kremkov Industries, which Torjagbo said had nearly 500 employees on its payroll, Buchanan said.
Along with the loan application for Kremkov Industries, Torjagbo submitted falsified tax returns and fake payroll records, Buchanan said. The defendant claimed he owed payroll expenses of nearly $4 million per month, according to the release. When the PPP loan was deposited into the newly created account for Kremkov Industries, the balance was $105, Buchanan said.
A little more than a week after the funds were deposited in late March 2021, Torjagbo transferred about $3 million to a different account via check, which included the memo “Payroll,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.
Instead of paying his non-existent employees, Torjagbo bought a house for nearly $1.7 million, a 2022 BMW M850XL for nearly $120,000, a 2021 Land Rover Velar for nearly $90,000 and spent more than $15,000 on plastic surgery, Buchanan said. Trojagbo is also accused of buying trucking equipment for nearly $1 million to start a new business and about $300,000 on other real estate properties.
“The FBI and our partners will not tolerate anyone who misdirects federal emergency assistance intended for businesses who actually need it to stay operational,” Special Agent of FBI Atlanta Keri Farley said. “Torjagbo’s fraud was particularly egregious, and we will make sure he is held accountable accordingly.”
After his arraignment, Torjagbo was remanded into federal custody, Buchanan said.
Anyone with information involving COVID-19 relief funds can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form.
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