Ex-Bears Player Charged In Coronavirus Loan Fraud Conspiracy

CHICAGO — A former Chicago Bears player is accused of taking part in a conspiracy to defraud taxpayers out of millions of dollars in forgivable coronavirus economic relief loans. Federal prosecutors said the scheme involved at least a dozen participants and 90 fraudulent applications for federally backed Paycheck Protection Program, or PPP, loans worth more than $24 million.

Josh Bellamy, 31, of St. Petersburg, Florida, was arrested Thursday and charged with wire fraud, bank fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud, according to court records. Bellamy played five seasons with the Bears starting in 2014. Last year, he joined the New York Jets. He suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in the spring and was cut from the Jets roster Tuesday.

Authorities said Bellamy illegally received a nearly $1.25 million PPP loan on behalf of his company, Drip Entertainment LLC. Bellamy incorporated the business in September 2018 but failed to file an annual report, which led the Florida Division of Corporations to administratively dissolve it a year later. It has remained inactive since September 2019, according to an affidavit in support of the charges from IRS agent Michael Benivegna.

In May 2020, Bellamy submitted clearly fake paperwork applying for a loan on behalf of the company, the affidavit said. The agent claimed the company had 47 employees and a quarterly payroll of about $1.5 million. In fact, IRS records show the company did not report any wages or employees in all of 2019 or the first quarter of 2020, according to the agent’s sworn statement.

"The purported bank statement, which was submitted in electronic format, is a clear forgery. First, according to the document's file 'properties,' the statement was created using 'PDFFILLER,' a program used to edit electronic PDF files, and was 'modified using iText,'" the agent alleged. Benivegna said the statement is identical to those used in other fraudulent applications submitted by Bellamy's co-conspirators.

Investigators believe Bellamy and a dozen other participants in the scheme received approval for 42 loans worth about $17.4 million. Some of that money was then wired as kickbacks to an unidentified man who is now cooperating with investigators, authorities said.

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Bellamy admitted to taking part in the fraudulent scheme in a phone call with an undercover agent last month, according to the affidavit.

"I got as many employees as I want," Bellamy boasted, according to the charges, promising the undercover agent a share of the proceeds.

When asked what he was doing with the money, the free agent wide receiver allegedly said he had been "buying stuff," withdrawing cash and spending money on videos and other things for his "artists."

According to the IRS agent, a review of Bellamy's bank records indicates he spent nearly all the fraudulently acquired federally backed cash within a couple months. After wiring about a quarter of the loan to the co-conspirator cooperating with authorities, he withdrew more than $300,000 in cash, the agent alleged.

In the first two weeks of June, Bellamy also wired $95,000 to jewelry stores, racked up more than $8,300 in bills at Gucci, Milano Exchange and Dior stores, spent more than $6,600 on airline transactions and nearly $63,000 at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida, the agent said.

The first defendants in the case were charged last month, including Philip Augustin. According to prosecutors, Augustin started the scheme by faking documents to secure a loan for his talent management company, Clear Vision Music Group, they said. After the first fraudulent loan, he allegedly began to conspire with Bellamy and others to submit numerous other applications in exchange for a share of the money.

Justice Department officials asked anyone with information about fraud involving the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security, or CARES, Act — or any other COVID-19 relief — can report it to the department's disaster fraud hotline at 866-720-5721 or via an online form.