Former Dallas Rapper Charged With COVID-19 Financial Fraud
John Corbin Corona is charged with wire fraud and money laundering in connection with an alleged scheme to defraud a pandemic-era financial relief program.
Corona, 35, founded a cryptocurrency company that operated an alleged bitcoin-pooled investment fund known as Bitcoin Bank America and fraudulently applied for two Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans totaling over $413,000, an indictment says.
Corona allegedly inflated his company’s payroll and misrepresented the number of employees in the Paycheck Protection Program applications, and submitted tax returns information about his business, according to the indictment.
The indictment also alleges that Corona transferred more than $155,000 in PPP loan funds to a cryptocurrency exchange platform.
Corona pleaded not guilty, court records show. A trial is set for January.
If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in federal prison on the count of wire fraud and 10 years on the money laundering count and would be required to forfeit any money gained through the scheme.
Our sister publication D Magazine published an interview with Corona in 2013 about his music and growing up in the Park Cities.
