Florida man who bought mansion with $7.2M COVID-19 relief fund pleads guilty: DOJ
SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) — A Florida man who bought a mansion with a $7.2 million COVID-19 relief fund has pleaded guilty, the Department of Justice announced Wednesday.
According to the plea agreement in May 2020, Don Cisternino, 46, fraudulently secured more than $7.2 million in emergency funds through a Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) loan.
Investigators said Cisternino’s PPP loan application falsely claimed that his business, MagnifiCo had 441 employees and monthly payroll expenses in 2019 of more than $2.8 million. Cisternino’s business actually had no employees other than himself.
The DOJ said that Cisternino also submitted fake W-2s for the company’s employees. Many of the lis...
