Michigan man pleads guilty after using Covid relief money to buy BMW convertible, pay for wedding

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (FOX 2) - A Grand Rapids man pleaded guilty to bank fraud and money laundering after authorities say he used a fake company to receive about $170,000 in Paycheck Protection Program loans.

According to federal authorities, Kurtis James VanderMolen, 50, submitted a PPP loan application to a New Jersey bank for a fake company, Breakout Strategies Corporation, in July 2020. He claimed that Breakout Strategies had eleven employees and sent the bank fraudulent bank records and fake payroll records to make it look like a real company.

Once VanderMolen received about $100,641, he used the money for personal expenses, including a BMW 650i convertible, authorities said.

He applied for a second PPP loan in February 2021 and received $69,361. Authorities say he used that money to pay for his wedding on a boat in Florida.

Read more stories from around Michigan here.

"The Paycheck Protection Program was a critical lifeline for Michigan’s small businesses, and the FBI will not tolerate people taking advantage of that program to enrich themselves," said James Tarasca, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in Michigan. "This kind of fraud may have prevented honest business owners from getting the help they needed to weather the early days of the pandemic. The FBI remains committed to finding people who commit fraud and holding them accountable for their crimes."