APOPKA, Fla. — An Apopka man has been sentenced to more than five years in federal prison for wire fraud and money laundering tied to a fraudulent COVID-19 relief loan application, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida.
Emmet Bowens, 57, was sentenced to 63 months in federal prison, prosecutors said Monday.
As part of the sentence, a judge also ordered Bowens to forfeit $739,582, which prosecutors said was the amount obtained through the fraud.
Bowens pleaded guilty Jan. 26.
According to court documents, Bowens submitted a fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program loan application on May 5, 2020, claiming he owned a business called Buccaneer Technologies.
Prosecutors said Bowens claimed the business had 102 employees and an average monthly payroll of $295,883. He also submitted fraudulent tax records to support the application, according to court documents.
Investigators said Bowens filed articles of incorporation for the business six days after the loan application was submitted.
The loan was approved for $739,582 and disbursed into Bowens’ personal checking account, prosecutors said.
Bowens then moved the money into several accounts, including three new accounts funded with $250,000, $250,000 and $115,000, according to prosecutors.
Investigators said Bowens spent some of the money on a cross-country road trip. Prosecutors said Bowens and his wife were captured on bank surveillance withdrawing $44,000 in cash during the trip.
After Bowens was charged and released on bond, prosecutors said he cut off his ankle monitor and fled.
He was a fugitive for about a year and a half before he was found and arrested in the Northern District of Mississippi, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.