A Nevada man, Brandon Casutt, has been sentenced to two years and four months in prison for his fraudulent acquisition of over $500,000 in COVID relief funds, which he subsequently funneled through friends and family to purchase a house.
Casutt, aged 52 and from Henderson, engaged in multiple deceptive actions, including the submission of fraudulent applications to the Small Business Administration and its lenders under the CARES Act. His ultimate goal was to secure more than $5.7 million in relief funds, as stated by the Department of Justice.
Of the applications he submitted, two received funding: a Paycheck Protection Program loan of approximately $350,000 for a business called Sky DeSign and an Economic Injury Disaster Loan of approximately $150,000 for a charity named Skyler’s CF Foundation, supposedly dedicated to raising awareness about cystic fibrosis.
Both applications contained false claims of having multiple employees, payroll expenses, and revenue, even though neither entity had employees or paid any wages.
After receiving the PPP funds, Casutt engaged in money laundering by issuing numerous counterfeit payroll checks to himself, family members, and friends. To make it appear legitimate, he falsely labeled these checks as “pandemic pay” or “back pay” in the memo section. Subsequently, he cashed or deposited these fake paychecks, with the funds ultimately redirected to a bank account under his control.
With these illicitly acquired funds, Casutt purchased a $400,000 home in Henderson in June 2020, where he and his family relocated.
In August 2020, Casutt pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of concealing money laundering.
By FCCT Editorial Team
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