Police & Fire

Park City man accused of N95 mask scheme charged with new COVID-loan crimes

SALT LAKE CITY — A Park City man accused of falsely claiming to have millions of masks to sell has now been accused of several new crimes in relation to COVID-19 pandemic loans.

According to court records on Wednesday, A federal grand jury indicted John Anthony Taylor on two counts of making a false statement on a loan or credit application and one count of money laundering.

Upon seeking temporary financial relief during the COVID-19 outbreak, Taylor received two different kinds of loans made available through the CARES Act. He allegedly filed applications for an economic injury disaster loan and a paycheck protection program loan, and he later received money under false pretenses.

Despite being considered ineligible for receiving the funds under federal law, the newly appointed charges accuse Taylor of receiving $36,500 from an economic injury disaster loan and roughly $15,600 from a paycheck protection program loan. The indictment states that Taylor transferred part of the money to a different account and proceeded to purchase a 2014 GMC Sierra pickup truck for over $22,000 with the funds.

As indicated in the loan applications, Taylor allegedly stated that he had never been indicted or charged with a crime and was not on any type of probation or parole. However, contrary to his claim, Taylor was on pretrial release in connection with a different charge from 2020 at the time.

Additionally, according to court records, Taylor was charged with wire fraud in April 2020. After a complaint had been made to the FBI regarding Taylor and another man claiming they could coordinate bulk orders for millions of 3M branded N95 respirator masks, the bureau decided to investigate.

Shortly thereafter, An undercover FBI agent contacted the two in April 2020 to purchase bulk orders of the masks. The two then confirmed to the agent that they would be able to facilitate the bulk purchase. However, representatives for 3M told investigators they had no records of purchases from either Taylor or the other man. Taylor was then charged on April 29.

Taylor was booked into the Weber County Jail on March 10. His next court appearance is scheduled for March 21 for an initial appearance in his new case and for a hearing to discuss a pretrial release violation in his previous case.

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