“Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta” star Maurice “Mo” Fayne has been sentenced to seventeen and a half years behind bars for his role in a federal bank and wire fraud. In addition, the rapper has been ordered to pay $4,465,866 in restitution.
Fayne pled guilty to six counts in court, including bank and wire fraud. These crimes stem from his misuse of PPP (Paycheck Protection Funds) payments from the government. The purpose of the government money is to help businesses and workers impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead of assisting his small business, Fayne used the money to fund a luxurious lifestyle.
The case against Mo Fayne
Receiving $2 million in PPP loans for his trucking business, Flame Trucking, Fayne used more than $300,000 of that money for himself. Expenses included: $85,000 worth of jewelry; a $136,000 Rolls-Royce; $40,000 in past-due child support; and $90,000 to start a new business in Atlanta, according to TMZ. Included in the jewelry purchase were a $3,750 diamond ring, a $24,500 diamond bracelet and a $52,000 Rolex watch. He even posted a picture of himself bedecked in the jewelry on his Instagram.
Fayne originally cut a plea deal with prosecutors for 151 months in prison. Yet on Wednesday, the judge sentenced Mo to 210. Fayne took the agreement to avoid a whopping thirty years for financial crimes. In the plea deal, fourteen counts would have dropped, related to his involvement in a separate crime: a Ponzi scheme.
Mo bad moves
Arrested back in May of 2020, Fayne claimed he used the PPP money as payroll for his trucking employees. The issue? The company never made enough money to cover expenses. In fact, the money the company did bring in was through more than $5 million in investments from various individuals. Worse still, bank records show that the account for Flame Trucking was closed in September of 2019. Fayne then allegedly took the invested money and paid off his gambling debts. What remained of that money went towards more jewelry and more child support payments.
Suffice to say, Mo Fayne will not be making any guest appearances on “Love & Hip Hop” anytime soon.
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Garrett C. Owen