Macon politician, business owner admits to defrauding COVID relief program
A Macon business owner and politician admitted Wednesday that he had defrauded the federal COVID-19 pandemic relief program of $2 million, using that money for high-value cars.
James Frank Austin Jr., a former state House candidate who established the Austin Smith Center for Community Development in Macon, pleaded guilty in front of Judge Marc Treadwell on Wednesday to bank fraud, money laundering and conspiring to commit wire fraud.
Because all of the counts he pleaded guilty to were felonies, Treadwell informed him that he would lose his right to vote, possess a firearm and hold office — and Austin agreed to those conditions.
He was charged alongside Rosalend Way, whose case remains pending as she faces charges of conspiring to commit wire fraud and money laundering, court records show.
Macon man bought Mercedes, Bentley cars with fraud money
Austin admitted to fraudulently applying for the Paycheck Protection Program, a federal program established during the pandemic that provided forgivable loans to small businesses for job retention and other expenses, on behalf of the center he owned, according to court documents.
On one application for the community development business submitted in 2020, Austin claimed he had 15 employees and an average monthly payroll of $654,515. He also provided a 2019 tax form that showed he had 26 employees who were paid a total of $648,908. For this application, he was awarded a $654,415 loan.
He also submitted an application to be awarded money from the Propel Opportunity Fund, which is an investment company, claiming he had 18 employees with an average monthly payroll of $420,558, according to court documents. Austin attached a document on his application that falsely claimed he had paid more than $4.9 million in wages in 2019. He was awarded more than $1 million for that application.
A third application submitted on behalf of the opportunity fund falsely claimed he had a monthly payroll of $149,000 and nearly $4.9 million in wages in 2019 — he received $375,500 for that application.
It was not clarified in court how much Austin actually paid employees or how many employees he actually had.
Overall, he received $2.08 million in loans.
The IRS established that he never filed the tax forms that were attached to the application, and the bank statements for both of the companies didn’t match up with the payroll complaints, according to court records.
Austin admitted on Wednesday that he had used the money to buy high-value cars. He obtained a check for more than $30,000 to give to Mercedes-Benz. Another check amounted to $119,840, was intended to pay for a Bentley.
Austin was permitted to remain out of custody until he is sentenced, which is scheduled for Nov. 19.
