PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Federal authorities have nabbed $2.5 million from a Vancouver real estate developer convicted of a COVID-19 relief fraud scheme.
On Wednesday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon reported that officials recovered the money from Michael James DeFrees more than a year after he was sentenced to 21 months in prison.
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The Attorney’s Office alleged the 63-year-old man submitted fraudulent loan applications between 2020 and 2022, and subsequently received Economic Injury Disaster Loans and Paycheck Protection Program funds.
DeFrees claimed he hadn’t been convicted of any of the offenses that would impact his loan eligibility, and he hadn’t recently faced parole or probation. But according to authorities, he was placed on probation due to his felony conviction of falsifying records during a bankruptcy proceeding in 2017…