Photo credit: Screenshot from YouTube video posted by Prophet Burton Sherbert
A Washington D.C. pastor and car salesman was arrested earlier this month after using funds from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) to fund his lavish lifestyle.
Pastor Rudolph Brooks Jr., founder and senior pastor of the Kingdom Tabernacle of Restoration Ministries, was arrested on April 2, according to a press release from the United States Department of Justice (USDOJ). The PPP program was designed to help business owners survive the pandemic by giving them money to spend on mortgage, payroll and other related bills.
Brooks applied for the program on May 9, 2020, under Car Direct, the name of a used car dealership he reportedly founded in 2010. However, it was forfeited two years later. The business wasn’t revived on paper until May 28, 2020.
The DOJ claims he used fraudulent tax papers to report he spent $724,469 on payroll and a whopping $7,471,630 in unemployment payments.
“IRS records do not reflect any tax filings made by Cars Direct for any tax period, indicating that Cars Direct has not hired employees or paid unemployment taxes,” the press release stated. “Additionally, the Maryland Department of Labor has no record of Cars Direct paying wages or of Brooks receiving wages.”
A month before, the lying a** heathen applied for another federal loan and claimed the Car Direct only generated $148,000 in gross revenue and cost of goods sold was $82,293.
The government noted the math was “inconsistent with a business that can support average monthly payroll costs of $622,635 or annual payments of $7,471,630 as Brooks reported on the PPP loan application and supporting fraudulent tax documents.”
Despite the finesse, Brooks was approved for the loan and received $1,556,589 from the government. He wasted no time swiping his card.
“After the deposit of PPP loan funds, Brooks initiated numerous transfers of PPP loan funds from the Cars Direct accounts to his personal bank accounts,” the press release stated. “Records revealed that Brooks used the PPP loan funds for personal expenditures including credit card bills, purchases at restaurants, retail stores, grocery stores, and automotive auctioneers, and mortgage payments for Brooks Cheltenham residence.”
He also used the money to purchase 39 used cars, which violates the terms of the PPP loan.
Brooks was charged with wire fraud and faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted. The feds also seized $2.2 million from is bank account and a 2018 Tesla Model 3.
God don’t like ugly.