TikTok influencer pleaded guilty to laundering government funds, including via Bitcoin

Denish Sahadevan, known on TikTok as investor Danny Devan, pleaded guilty to laundering government funds, including via Bitcoin. Минюст США.

According to the Maryland District Attorney’s Office, the influencer sought to defraud creditors and authorities to obtain COVID-19 loans totaling $1.2 million.

At the outset of the pandemic, the U.S. government enacted financial relief. The package included the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program.

Prosecutors say Sahadevan used both programs for his financial manipulations. Beginning in March 2020, he created fake tax forms and bank statements, and then submitted PPP and EIDL applications through several entities under his control.

According to court papers, the blogger obtained 71 PPP loans totaling $941,000 and filed eight EIDL applications for $238,000. Before that, he borrowed about $1.3 million from a bank, which he spent on buying a six-bedroom mansion.

With funds from the government, the man attempted to pay down his debts. He also sent some of the money to his girlfriend.

On February 24, 2023, police searched Sahadevan’s home and found 18 driver’s licenses belonging to different people, $17,000 in cash, and a “gold physical Bitcoin in a black case.” The authorities seized all of it as evidence.

Ultimately, the blogger pleaded guilty to wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and money laundering using cryptocurrency.

Maximum penalties on these counts: up to 20 years in prison for fraud, 10 years for money laundering, and two years for identity theft. As part of the plea agreement, Sahadevan will forfeit the cash and bitcoins he owned and pay a $429,000 fine.

Earlier in April, New York authorities arrested former JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank banker Rashon Russell on suspicion of fraud involving digital assets.

In May, former Director of Product for OpenSea NFT-marketplace Nathaniel Chastain pleaded guilty to insider trading.