The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced last Thursday that Charles Riley Constant, also known as Chuck Constant, was arrested for “allegedly stealing and laundering over $1 million in Small Business Administration (SBA) loans, including using the fraudulent proceeds to purchase cryptocurrency ATMs.”
“Law enforcement officers seized 18 cryptocurrency ATMs in Texas and Oklahoma, which Constant purchased with fraudulent proceeds and opened a cryptocurrency ATM business called ‘Coindawg LLC,’ as well as the Coindawg website,” the Justice Department detailed. The DOJ explained that Constant and his co-conspirators created fake identities and fake businesses to obtain seven Economic Injury Disaster Loans from the SBA beginning in the fall of 2020. The funds were intended to help small businesses that suffered financial losses during the pandemic.
The Justice Department further alleges that Constant used approximately $700,000 in fraudulently obtained SBA loans to purchase Bitcoin from a New York City-based cryptocurrency exchange. To date, Coindawg has traded more than $3 million worth of cryptocurrency and charged a 15% transaction fee. (Bitcoin.com)
