ALPACA KING

Pizza Shop Owner Spent Fraudulent PPP Loan on ‘Several Alpaca’ and Radio Airtime, Feds Say

Federal prosecutors say the pizza parlor owner lied about the number of employees he had to get more cash.

The owner of a Massachusetts pizza parlor has been arrested and charged with wire fraud and money laundering after federal investigators say he falsified information to obtain federal coronavirus relief money. Prosecutors say that Dana McIntyre claimed that his pizza shop, Rasta Pasta in Beverly, Massachusetts, had almost 50 employees when it really had fewer than 10. After McIntyre got the PPP loan of over $660,000, prosecutors say he sold his pizza place, and used the ill-gotten gains to buy a farm, “several alpaca,” a few cars, and “weekly airtime for a cryptocurrency-themed radio show.” McIntyre has denied the allegations. If convicted, he faces up to 40 years in prison and $750,000 in fines.