Middletown Man Sentenced For $4.7 Million PPP Fraud

MIDDLETOWN, RI — An Aquidneck Island man was sentenced to nearly seven years in federal prison after he was convicted of defrauding the federal coronavirus relief program. Michael Moller, 42, sought more than $4.7 million from the Paycheck Protection Program.

Moller's sentencing comes in the wake of Massachusetts man David Adler Stavely, who was sentenced earlier this month to 56 months in federal prison after becoming the first person in the country charged with defrauding PPP relief.

According to the Department of Justice, Moller submitted 11 fraudulent loan applications totaling more than $4.7 million under his name, along with those of his father and girlfriend's son and brother. He received a little more than $599,000 from the program, which was intended to help businesses struggling to stay afloat during the height of the coronavirus pandemic.

At the time Moller submitted the applications, he was on supervised release after he was convicted of committing four armed robberies and sentenced to 108 months in federal prison. In total, he was convicted nine times in Rhode Island and Massachusetts courts for larceny and obtaining money under false pretenses before the most recent charges, along with two federal convictions for tax fraud.

Court documents filed while Moller was awaiting sentencing for the PPP fraud conviction showed that he defrauded two fellow inmates, convincing them to give him thousands of dollars to pay for a lawyer who could help them in their immigration and criminal cases. In phone calls from inside the Wyatt Detention Center, Moller impersonated the lawyer, called "Sam," and directed them to give the payments to his girlfriend.

In total, Moller's girlfriend received around $17,000 in cash from the scheme, the DOJ said. Recorded conversations between Moller and his girlfriend showed the money was used to buy marijuana, gambling and for his prison commissary account.

Moller was sentenced to 82 months and one day in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release. He was also ordered to repay $599,251 in restitution.