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Maryland pastor Rudolph Brooks Jr., who is the senior pastor and founder of Washington, D.C.’s Kingdom Tabernacle of Restoration Ministries, has been charged with fraudulently obtaining $1.5 million in Payback Protection Program (PPP) loans. He allegedly used PPP money to purchase 39 cars, one of which was a 2018 Model 3 Tesla that cost $60k.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office released a statement saying the 45-year-old Pastor Rudolph Brooks is facing up to 20 years in prison if he is convicted. The charges also claim he used the funds to purchase property in Baltimore. The U.S. Attorney’s Office has seized 11 bank accounts totaling over $2.2 million.
In 2020, at the peak of the pandemic, over $665 billion dollars in PPP loans were approved and handed out. According to the PPP loan program, Brooks’ purchases are not an appropriate use of PPP loan funds.
To apply for the PPP loans, the pastor used a company called Cars Direct which has him listed as the owner. The company which was forfeited in October 2010, was revived by Brooks in May 2020, two months after congress passed the CARES Act.