A Colorado man has been sentenced to 20 months in federal prison for COVID-19 pandemic-related fraud.
Joshua Lybolt, 47, of Castle Rock, must also pay $5,346,802.61 in restitution and a $50,000 fine after he pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering, according to a Justice Department news release.
The plea agreement stated that from April 2020 to August 2022, Lybolt “applied for and received $4,950,000 in COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) from the Small Business Administration (SBA) and $41,667 in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funds from an SBA-approved lender.”
Lybolt ran businesses in Indiana that had gone bankrupt, then moved to Colorado and applied for fraudulent loans on behalf of those failed enterprises.
He falsely certified in loan applications that the entities suffered losses during the pandemic, even though they were not operational when relief loans were being offered.
Some of the government funds he received paid for personal items like a 2022 Porsche Taycan, a 2022 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray convertible, a 2021 Ford Bronco, a 2016 Land Rover Range Rover, country club memberships, a luxury vacation club, and several Colorado properties.
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How much do you trust federal efforts to combat fraud in pandemic relief?
A lot
27% (4 votes)
Some
47% (7 votes)
Not much
13% (2 votes)
Not at all
13% (2 votes)
Peter McNeilly, United States Attorney for the District of Colorado, said, “Mr. Lybolt stole from hardworking American taxpayers so he could masquerade as something he is not: a successful businessman.”
“I am proud of the work our team did to hold this fraudster accountable and return significant funds back to the federal government.”
FBI Denver Special Agent in Charge Amanda Koldjeski added, “The United States offered emergency financial assistance to Americans and businesses dealing with the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. But this defendant misdirected those funds for personal luxuries.”
“The FBI will continue to hold anyone accountable who abuses taxpayer dollars,” she declared.
President Donald Trump has made federal fraud a top priority during his second term and even established a nationwide task force, currently being led by Vice President J.D. Vance.
The task force has already discovered billions of dollars in potential fraud through government contracts.
The investigators reported finding 895 contracts awarded to 392 businesses that they believe could be fraudulent, totaling $6.3 billion “with $3 billion still left to be [awarded].”
The news of Lybolt’s sentencing came just one day before Trump announced a new payment system for whistleblowers who expose government fraud schemes and corruption.
“Today, I’m thrilled to announce the Fraud Whistleblower Incentive Program,” he told reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday.
“All Americans will now be able to go to Fraud.gov and report cases of corruption and theft of taxpayer dollars in their communities, all via a new website,” Trump added. “If you turn somebody in, and let’s say you report and you find $1 billion, we are giving a commission to that person of 1 percent. It’s a lot of money.”
The president then blamed “crooked politicians” and “crooked [attorneys general]” for stealing “trillions” of taxpayer dollars, specifically citing New York and Minnesota.
The commander-in-chief gave the first award of the initiative to conservative YouTuber Nick Shirley, who was in attendance alongside Vance in the Oval Office.
“Nick has been at the forefront of the battle to stop the horrible plague that’s happened within our country. There’s never been anything like it,” Trump explained
“Nick used his popular YouTube channel to reveal that the Somali community… in Minneapolis, Minnesota, was stealing billions and billions of dollars, taxpayer money, through fraudulent childcare centers and other scams.”
He also credited Shirley with helping effectuate the arrests of some of the 115 “fraudsters” since Trump resumed office, then accused Minnesota Democratic Gov. Tim Walz and Democratic Attorney General Keith Ellison of being complicit in the fraud.
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