PROVIDENCE, R.I.–A Massachusetts man who allegedly received more than a half-million dollars in fraudulent Paycheck Protection Loans and then who also allegedly faked his own death has been indicted by federal prosecutors.
Prosecutors in Rhode Island allege David Adler Staveley, who goes by Kurt David Sanborn and David Sanborn and who was initially arrested and charged in May, spent a month on the lam after being charged with fraudulently applying for $544,000 in forgivable small business loans.
According to prosecutors, Staveley violated the conditions of his release by traveling to Connecticut, and was then ordered to home confinement with GPS monitoring. Staveley then cut off his ankle bracelet, fled and faked his own death in attempt to evade law enforcement, prosecutors said.
"In an effort to deceive law enforcement into believing that he had died, it is alleged that Staveley staged his suicide by, among other things, leaving suicide notes with associates and in his car, which he left unlocked and parked by the Atlantic Ocean," U.S. Attorney Aaron Weisman's office said in released statement.
Prosecutors said Staveley, 53, used a number of false identities and stolen license plates to avoid capture from May 26 to July 23, when he was arrested in Georgia.
3-Count Indictment
Staveley has been indicted on three counts of bank fraud and one count each of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, false statements to influence the SBA, aggravated identity theft, and failure to appear in court as required.
Staveley, who had an alleged co-conspirator, David Andrew Butziger of Warwick, R.I., falsely claimed to have dozens of employees working at four different businesses as part of the effort to apply for the forgivable Paycheck Protection Program loans, prosecutors said. Staveley claimed his businesses included three restaurants and an electronics business, but prosecutors stated there were no employees.
In all, the indictment alleges Staveley filed five separate fraudulent loan applications for businesses, seeking a total of nearly $544,000. The indictment does not state whether Stavely or Butziger actually received any funds.
Butziger has since entered a guilty plea.