Kenneth Gaughan, a former D.C. Catholic official, fraudulently obtained millions in coronavirus relief funds intended for small businesses and then used the money to buy personal items.
The Washington Blade reports: “A gay former assistant superintendent and contracting liaison for the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington has been charged with fraudulently obtaining more than $2.1 million in funds for personal use from two federal coronavirus relief programs.”
The Blade adds that a statement from the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia says Gaughan applied for government loans using more than a dozen fake companies through the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the federal Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) program: “It says Gaughan used the money he obtained through fraud and deception, in part, to purchase a $300,000 yacht, a $1.13 million townhouse in D.C., and a $46,000 luxury sports car.”
Gaughan was charged with one count of bank fraud, one count of theft of government funds, one count of wire fraud, and one count of money laundering, according to the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. Gaughan was also charged in a separate embezzlement scheme of $472,000 from the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., according to the Blade.
