A former Wheeling business owner admitted on Mar. 20 to committing fraud involving nearly $300,000 in COVID-19 relief funds, according to U.S. Attorney Matthew L. Harvey.
Bradley Temple, 48, of Delray Beach, Florida, who previously lived in Wheeling, pleaded guilty to unlawful money transactions. Court documents show that Temple operated Righteous Brother’s Trucking and applied for both a Paycheck Protection Program loan and an Economic Injury Disaster Loan under the CARES Act. He made false statements about his business to secure $277,456 in loans and used the funds for personal or unauthorized expenses, including purchasing a vehicle with a $40,000 cashier’s check.
Temple faces up to 10 years in prison and will be required to pay restitution. Sentencing will be determined by a federal district court judge after reviewing the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other legal factors.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Conklin is prosecuting the case. The investigation was conducted by the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Office of Inspector General (NASA OIG). NASA OIG is part of the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee Fraud Task Force, which oversees federal pandemic spending programs such as PPP and EIDL.
The PRAC’s Pandemic Analytics Center of Excellence also supported this case by providing advanced analytic tools for investigating pandemic relief fraud. U.S. Magistrate Judge James P. Mazzone presided over the proceedings.
