Owner of Cryptocurrency Company Charged with COVID-19 Paycheck Protection Program Fraud
Nov 9, 2022 · Sourced to the U.S. Department of Justice
A Dallas man who allegedly devised a scheme to defraud a pandemic-era financial program out of hundreds of thousands of dollars has been federally charged.
Defendants
- John Corbin Corona — age 35 · Dallas · indicted
Charges
Wire fraud
Max: 20 years in prisonJohn Corbin Corona· indicted
Money laundering
Max: 10 years in prisonJohn Corbin Corona· indicted
Financial actions
- fraud: over $413,000 — Two fraudulently applied PPP loans through BlueVine and FundBox
- fraud: $206,902 — PPP loan proceeds deposited into Corona's bank account by Celtic Bank
- money laundering: over $155,000 — PPP loan funds transferred to Coinbase Inc., a cryptocurrency exchange platform
- forfeiture — Financial proceeds of the scheme or property traceable to it upon conviction
From the announcement
“As millions of small business owners grappled with the fallout from the pandemic, this defendant raked in a couple hundred thousand bucks at his fellow citizens’ expense,”
“The Paycheck Protection Program, funded by taxpayers, was designed to help small businesses stay afloat during the pandemic. The Justice Department will relentlessly pursue those who defrauded the PPP.”
Investigating agencies
Case details
- Prosecuting office
- Northern District of Texas
- Judge
- Toliver, U.S. Magistrate Judge
- Assets
- bitcoin
Primary source
Every fact above is drawn from the Department of Justice's own announcement — a public-domain government record.
Read the original DOJ release →This is a research and reference page compiled from public DOJ announcements, not legal advice. Details reflect the government's statements as of its release date and may not capture later developments such as appeals, dismissals, or overturned convictions. Defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.