A D.C. pastor who received more than one million dollars in coronavirus relief funds has been charged with federal wire fraud for falsifying documents relating to his application for the funds. Further, the pastor used the money to allegedly purchase 39 cars, one of which was a Tesla, and a house in Baltimore.
CBS Baltimore reported that Rudolph Brooks Jr., of Cheltenham, Maryland, may have more than $2.2 million seized as well as his 2018 Tesla Model 3. Brooks is accused of obtaining the money after the first coronavirus relief bill — the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES) — was enacted in March 2020. The bill was intended to provide financial assistance to those who had lost their jobs when governors across the country shut down businesses that they claimed would spread COVID-19 and were not essential. The CARES Act provided up to $659 billion in forgivable loans to small businesses that were hurt by the government orders in order to pay their employees. The funds were meant to be used on essential expenses, such as payroll, mortgage interest, rent, and utilities
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