By Dee Longfellow
For The ELMHURST Independent
Last week, the Independent received a report indicating that the owner of an Addison business was under federal investigation allegedly for obtaining funds earmarked for COVID-19 relief and spending the funds on a line of luxury automobiles.
Francesco DiStefano stands accused of fraudulently receiving more than $1 million out of COVID-19 relief loans, according to recently unsealed court documents obtained by the Chicago Tribune. According to an FBI search warrant, DiStefano used about $385,000 over a period of about 30 days in 2020 to purchase the following vehicles: a 2016 Lamborghini Huracan, a 2020 Range Rover Evoque, a 2020 Porsche 911 Carrera, and a 2017 Maserati Ghibli. The purchases were allegedly made through DiStefano’s business, DiStefano Enterprises LLC, a payment processing business licensed in Montana.
The Tribune reported that DiStefano allegedly bought several of the vehicles on the same day that COVID-19 relief loan funds were deposited in the business account.
The vehicles have been seized by the FBI as part of the investigation and DiStefano has not been charged with any wrongdoing at this time.
The information obtained by the Tribune said DiStefano had applied for a $198,000 PPP loan in May of 2020. His application indicated that he had 14 employees and an average payroll of $80,000 per month, but according to the affidavit obtained by the Tribune, state records from both Illinois and Montana show no wages were paid at all in 2019 or 2020. In addition, DiStefano reportedly collected personal unemployment benefits which were deposited into the same account.
Court documents further allege that DiStefano received two other PPP loans for two other companies connected to him – West Coast POS and National POS. Both of these loans used the same method of overstating the payroll and revenue figures in order to obtain them. The loans amounted to about $1.2 million and the funds were soon transferred to DiStefano from the other two companies.
According to the obtained affidavit, on the date one of the transfers took place, DiStefano purchased the Lamborghini for $195,000, using a corporate credit card for $100,000 of the purchase. The report said he used a cashier’s check for the remaining $95,000.
The following day, DiStefano reportedly purchased the Maserati, which was under lease to him since 2017. He used a $41,000 cashier’s check for that purchase, according to the FBI.
