RHEA COUNTY, Tenn. — A former Rhea County executive will spend time in prison after the Department of Justice said he used more than $600,000 in COVID-19 relief funds to buy various cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin.
According to the DOJ, George Thacker, 59, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud in relation to COVID relief funds. On top of a 33-month prison sentence, he is being ordered to pay back $665,600 in restitution and a $15,000 fine. He will also be put on three years of supervised release after prison as part of the plea deal.
Federal investigators said Thacker had submitted three fraudulent applications between May 2020 and February 2021 to apply for a combined $650,000 in PPP and EIDL relief funds for his business, the Thacker Corporation. The funds were intended to help businesses keep workers on the payroll and stay afloat amid the economic hardships brought on by the pandemic.
Instead of paying employee salaries or rent, the DOJ said Thacker used the money to "enrich himself" by buying Bitcoin, Ether and other cryptocurrencies, as well as fund his personal investment accounts.
“COVID-19 relief fraud is a serious crime,” said United States Attorney Francis M. Hamilton III. “Mr. Thacker’s scheme to defraud exploited a relief program designed to ease the economic suffering of all American workers and businesses. Today, he is being held accountable for his actions, and the Court’s sentence should demonstrate to any who are tempted to follow in his footsteps that this crime carries with it serious consequences. I commend the hard work of the United States Secret Service, and all involved with this prosecution. The U.S. Attorney’s Office is committed to uncovering and prosecuting those who unlawfully exploited the COVID-19 pandemic for personal gain, and we will continue to work together with our federal law enforcement partners to ensure that any who abuse federal relief programs are brought to justice.”
Federal agents estimate between $100 billion to $500 billion in federal, state and local COVID relief funds may have been fraudulently obtained, but the full scope of the fraud is unknown. As of August, the Secret Service said it had recovered just $286 million of that estimate.