US jails man who bought Lamborghini with government loan

(FILES) In this file photo taken on January 15, 2018 The Lamborghini Urus is unveiled at a press event alongside the 2018 North American International Auto Show Press Preview in Detroit, Michigan, January 15, 2018. Lee Price III was charged with fraud after he secured two government loans under the Paycheck Protection Program to pay employees he did not have, the Justice Department said in a statement. (Photo by Geoff Robins / AFP)

Instead of speeding off in a $200,000 Lamborghini Urus, a Texas man got a slower ride to jail Tuesday after US authorities arrested him for using $1.6 million in government pandemic aid to go on a spending spree.

Lee Price III, 29, was charged with fraud after he secured two government loans under the Paycheck Protection Program to pay employees he did not have, the Justice Department said in a statement.

Instead, he spent the funds on lavish goods like a sports car and a Rolex watch, as well as real estate, an F-350 pickup truck, and thousands of dollars at Houston strip clubs, the statement said.

Price secured two loans: Price Enterprises Holdings allegedly received more than $900,000, while 713 Construction was approved for over $700,000, but neither has employees and “the individual listed as CEO on the 713 Construction loan application died in April 2020, a month before the application was submitted,” according to the complaint.

Congress approved the PPP program in late March to help small businesses survive the coronavirus pandemic, granting loans that could be forgiven if they were used to pay wages, rent and utilities.