Fake Trump Pardon Part Of $10M Loan Fraud Scheme: Judge

TAMPA, FL — In what is being called one of the most outrageous court cases to come before the U.S. Middle District Court of Florida in Tampa, a 24-year-old North Redington Beach man has been sentenced to federal prison for a series of brazen crimes intended to defraud the U.S. government.

On Friday, U.S. District Judge Mary S. Scriven sentenced Alexander Lesczcynski of 173rd Avenue to 17 years and six months in federal prison after he was convicted of masterminding three fraud schemes in which he attempted to steal more than $10 million.

According to court documents, in one scheme Lesczcynski manufactured fictitious religious organizations — Love & Bliss, Aura Inc., King Neptune, Inuyasha Inc., Rhone Inc., King Cobra Inc., Tinnitus Institute of Love & Bliss Inc. and King Country Road Inc. — to fraudulently apply for Payroll Protection Plan loans totaling $1.3 million.

The PPP loans were intended to provide financial relief to businesses and organizations suffering losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The U.S. government ultimately seized $337,000 from one of Lesczcynski's bank accounts. When he discovered the funds had been frozen, he tried to convince the government to release the money by producing a fake pardon signed by former President Donald Trump.

Lesczcynski also received prison time after being convicted of filing fake paperwork deeding properties valued at $300 million to his so-called nonprofit religious organizations that he never owned. Among the properties he deeded to his nonprofits were properties owned by the late Jeffrey Epstein, the scandalized millionaire financier convicted of sex trafficking 36 underage girls. Epstein died on Aug. 10, 2019, after being found unconscious in his New York prison cell from self-inflicted injuries.

When property owners and attorneys attempted to correct the fraudulent deeds, Lesczcynski sent them harassing and threatening letters, emails and faxes, said investigators.

Additionally, Lesczcynski was convicted of engaging in a check-kiting scheme (the practice of covering a bad check from one bank account to another) and attempting to deposit more than $3 million of worthless checks into the Love & Bliss Inc. business account.

According to court records, Lesczcynski laundered the proceeds of the PPP and check-kiting schemes through multiple accounts to conceal the proceeds from the government.

Related: Pinellas Man Accused Of Creating Fake Trump Pardon To Escape PPP Fraud

In April 2022, a grand jury for the Middle District of Florida indicted Leszczynski on charges connected to the PPP loans, check-kiting and deed frauds, as well as multiple counts of money laundering. He was arraigned on May 17, 2022, and ordered held in the Pinellas County Jail without bail by the U.S. Marshals Service.

In August 2022, the FBI became aware that, while he was in the Pinellas County Jail, Leszczynski tried to hire a hitman to kill two victims of his deed fraud scheme. The FBI said Leszczynski told a confidential informant at the jail that he had $45,000 hidden at his home to pay someone to kill the victims so the U.S. Attorney's Office would be forced to drop the fraud case against him.

The confidential informant put Leszczynski in contact with a purported hitman, who was actually an undercover FBI agent.

On Sept. 8 and 9, 2022, Lesczcynski spoke on the phone with the agent who was pretending to be a hitman. Lesczcynski gave the "hitman" the names, addresses, ages and descriptions of the people he wanted murdered, and agreed to pay the hitman $30,000 once the victims were dead, said the FBI.

Lesczcynski pleaded guilty to all four cases in November, but later withdrew his plea in the murder-for-hire case. However, in June, he pleaded guilty to the murder-for-hire case again in June. Since then, the FBI said Lesczcynski has written numerous letters intercepted by the FBI, attempting to convince other people to take responsibility for his crimes.

Lesczcynski’s sentencing in the murder-for-hire case is pending before U.S. District Judge James Moody on Nov. 7.

In addition to being sentenced to 17 years and six months in federal prison, Lesczcynski was ordered to forfeit the proceeds and property from his crimes totaling $337,000 and was ordered to pay $621,000 in restitution to his victims.

The fraud case was investigated by the FBI, the Largo Police Department, the Indian Shores Police Department and the Palm Beach Police Department.

The murder-for-hire case was investigated by the FBI and the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office.

A Look At The Bigger Picture

The Department of Justice said it is continuing to track down, investigate and prosecute those who fraudulently applied for and received PPP loans and other CARES Act funds, preventing legitimate businesses and charities in desperate need of coronavirus relief from receiving funds.

The U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Inspector General said approximately $1.2 trillion in COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loans and Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funds were paid out and the SBA estimates that more than $200 billion, or 17 percent, of the funds were obtained fraudulently by people who used the funds to purchase mansions, Lamborghinis and yachts.

Among those accused of misusing PPP funds is former Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady who received a $960,000 PPP loan for his TBI wellness business around the time he purchased his Wajer 77 yacht for $6 million that he used to celebrate the Bucs' 2021 Super Bowl victory parade on the Hillsborough River in Tampa.

Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of small businesses in dire need were denied PPP loans. According to the Federal Reserve, more than 700,000 businesses closed their doors for good during the second quarter of 2020, accounting for nearly three million jobs.

A nationwide Federal Reserve survey of businesses with fewer than 500 employees released last year found that 20 percent of nonemployer businesses received none of the PPP funding they sought. Nonemployer businesses, which have no employees other than the owner, make up 81 percent of all small businesses in the U.S., according to the survey.

The survey also found that 4 percent of businesses that have at least one employee other than the owner received none of the PPP funding they sought.