Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
TOOELE — Three Tooele residents are facing federal charges accusing them of applying for more than $400,000 in government loans during the pandemic.
Halee Ann Mehlbauer, Timothy George Lopez and Rick A. Bolton were each indicted by a federal grand jury on Feb. 28 with seven counts of wire fraud. Mehlbauer was also charged with one count of money laundering.
"During the COVID-19 pandemic, Mehlbauer, Lopez, and Bolton worked together to defraud the COVID-19 relief program, dubbed the Paycheck Protection Program, and related lenders out of approximately $195,930.50, and attempted to defraud them out of another approximately $226,312, by fraudulently applying for a total of approximately $422,242.50 in PPP loans," according to charging documents.
Prosecutors say, specifically, the trio tried to defraud the Small Business Administration "by submitting false and fraudulent statements on behalf of (generally) nonexistent companies" and "fabricated employee, payroll and revenue amounts, in an attempt to obtain a total of approximately $422,242.50 in PPP Program loans."
The group is accused of carrying out their scheme from July 15, 2020, to Jan. 14, 2022. They used the money received from the government to pay for "unauthorized personal expenses, such as gambling expenses, debt payments, car rental payments and other miscellaneous expenses that were not related to any authorized payroll expenses," according to the charges. They then allegedly attempted to "obtain forgiveness of as much of the loan proceeds as possible."
The charges say Mehlbauer claimed she was the sole proprietor of a business called "Halee Mehlbauer" in operation since Feb. 15, 2020, with five employees and an average monthly payroll of $14,000 But prosecutors say none of those claims are true.
In 2021, Bolton and Mehlbauer applied for a loan claiming Bolton was the sole proprietor of a business called "Rick Bolton" which had six employees and an average monthly payroll of over $36,000, according to the charges. Prosecutors say all of that information was also false.
Also in 2021, charging documents say Lopez and Mehlbauer set up a similar scheme for a fake business called "Timothy Lopez," the charges state.
Court documents say prosecutors intend to seek forfeiture of any money or property purchased by the money illegally obtained from the government.
