The owner of a Massachusetts food truck business pleaded guilty Tuesday to filing fraudulent loan applications to obtain $1.5 million in federal pandemic relief funds, federal prosecutors said, the Associated Press reported. Loc Vo, who was arrested last summer, pleaded guilty to wire fraud. He faces up to 20 years in prison at a sentencing hearing set for May 3. An attorney for Vo said that he acknowledged his applications for pandemic relief contained false statements and will return about $600,000, the remains of the funds he received. Prosecutors say Vo owned Smart Gourmet LLC, a food truck business in Massachusetts, as well as a dormant Maryland company. Between April 2020 and July 2021, Vo submitted loan applications on behalf of the businesses under three Small Business Administration pandemic relief programs, requesting about $1.5 million that was supposed to be used for rent, mortgage interest, payroll, and utilities, among other eligible expenses, prosecutors said. Instead, Vo transferred most of the money to brokerage accounts in his name to invest in the stock market, purchasing shares in an electric car manufacturer and a biotechnology company, among others, authorities said.
