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Owner of Trucking Company Charged With Fraudulently Obtaining COVID-Relief Loans
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On July 2, 2021, a criminal complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California charging Carl Bradley Johansson with bank fraud and conspiracy to commit bank fraud. Johansson was arrested on July 8, 2021. The charges are related to a loan Johansson obtained under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), a provision of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Stimulus Act. The complaint alleges that in April 2020, Ontario-based trucking company, Western Distribution, LLC (Western), applied and was approved for a PPP loan in the amount of $436,390; Johansson's son was listed as the company owner on the application. Western allegedly spent its PPP funds in May and June 2020, primarily on expenses unrelated to its payroll. In April 2020, another Johansson-controlled trucking company—identified in the affidavit as “Company A”—applied to different federally insured bank and received a PPP loan in the amount of $286,505. The application listed Johansson’s 85-year-old mother as the company owner.
DOT-OIG is conducting this investigation with the Internal Revenue Service–Criminal Investigation Division and with assistance from the Small Business Administration-OIG.
Note: Indictments, informations, and criminal complaints are only accusations by the Government. All defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.