Scott man who obtained millions in fraudulent covid-19 relief loans pleads guilty, faces prison

A Scott man who fraudulently obtained federal covid-19 relief loans and used the money to buy luxury vehicles and artwork and pay college tuition pleaded guilty Tuesday to bank fraud and money laundering.

Randy Frasinelli, 66, will be sentenced on Dec. 20 by U.S. District Judge W. Scott Hardy.

According to the plea agreement, he faces a sentence of 63 to 78 months incarceration.

Also under the plea agreement, Frasinelli is responsible for $3.8 million in restitution and must forfeit the items he bought using the Paycheck Protection Program money.

Those items included a 2008 Ford Mustang Shelby, a 2014 Mercedes Benz GL5, a 2015 BMW 6 Series, a 2015 Mercedes Benz M. Class, a 2020 Land Rover Defender, a 2011 Porsche Panamera, a 2019 Yamaha YZFR6K, jewelry, artwork, firearms and several bank and investment accounts.

According to the original criminal complaint filed against Frasinelli, he applied for and received $3.8 million in money earmarked by the federal government to help small businesses continue paying their employees during the pandemic.

The government laid out a complex scheme that included falsified tax records and payroll reports that Frasinelli then used to obtain five separate paycheck protection loans, including one for $1.3 million that he received more than a month after the FBI served search warrants on him and seized the property he’d illegally purchased.

Frasinelli applied for the loans in the name of four companies: Grant-Williams Associates; Grant-Williams Glob; Grant-Williams International and Grant-Williams Associates Corp.

The government said he claimed in one loan application for Grant-Williams Associates to have 23 employees, but in another for the same company, claimed to have only six.

However, the state Department of Revenue said there were no business entity records or Employer Identification Numbers for any of those companies.