Sober Home Owner Used EIDL On Wine, Caviar, a Wedding, and More – Fraud Friday
December 13, 2024
Delaney Sexton
Contributing Editor
Sober Home Owner Used EIDL On Wine, Caviar, a Wedding, and More – Fraud Friday
The founder of several sober homes, Daniel Cleggett, has decided to plead guilty after being accused of four separate fraud schemes including EIDL fraud. At the center of his fraud schemes was A Vision From God LLC (AVFG), his sober home business which operated four locations.
In April 2020, Cleggett submitted three EIDL applications for his different businesses, and he successfully obtained $794,000 in loans and advances. His applications claimed that he was not involved in illegal activity, but by that point, he was already involved in a sober home wire fraud scheme and a mortgage fraud scheme. Additionally, one of the businesses that he was seeking an EIDL for did not even exist. The funds were not used to enrich his businesses, instead being used for EZ-Pass bills, gym membership fees, pet expenses, airline tickets, and car rentals. He also took vacations to Yellowstone, Montana and Aruba on SBA’s dime. His spending didn’t end there. Cleggett paid for hotel resort stays for himself and his girlfriend and spent thousands of dollars on spa fees and a wine and caviar dinner. Lastly, he used almost $38,000 for wedding expenses.
For another scheme, Cleggett was joined by Espinosa who was the manager of day-to-day affairs for AVFG and one of the sober home clients. They decided to defraud a family trust that was paying for the client’s room and board. Each month, Cleggett and Espinosa would overcharge the family trust by up to $12,500 per month. They then issued “refund” checks to the client.
In a third scheme, Cleggett personally and through straw purchasers bought three residential properties to use as sober homes. He submitted false information and fraudulent documentation that claimed that the properties were going to be primary residences when they were actually going to be used for his business.
Lastly, Cleggett operated two insulation contracting companies that were part of the Mass Save Program. The Mass Save Program is a Massachusetts public/private partnership sponsored by gas and electric utility companies that funds energy conservation projects and improvements. His companies received millions of dollars for residential insulation work from a lead vendor company. The vendor company was billed for required permits that were never actually obtained. Even after his businesses were banned from the Mass Save program, Cleggett continued on with his scheme. Cleggett, Espinosa, and others formed two more insulation contracting businesses to work with the same vendor company. They used straw owners to avoid suspicion. After opening the two new businesses, Cleggett was able to obtain another $954,443 despite being banned from participating in the program.
Daniel Cleggett pled guilty to:
- 2 counts of wire fraud conspiracy
- 1 count of mortgage fraud conspiracy
- 25 counts of wire fraud
- 6 counts of money laundering
- 3 counts of making false statements to a mortgage lending business