Former Beverly Pizza Shop Owner Gets 2 Years In Prison COVID-19 Fraud Scheme

BEVERLY, MA — The former owner of a Beverly pizzeria who pleaded guilty to fraudulently receiving more than $660,000 in COVID-19 relief funds and using the money to buy an alpaca farm in Vermont, two cars and air time for his cryptocurrency radio show was sentenced to two years in prison and three years of supervised release.

The U.S. Attorney's Office said on Wednesday that Dana McIntyre, formerly of Essex, must also pay nearly $700,000 in restitution and forfeiture. He pleaded guilty to four counts of wire fraud and three counts of money laundering in April.

"Make no mistake about it, this was no momentary lapse in the fog of the pandemic," Acting United States Attorney Joshua Levy said on Wednesday. "Mr. McIntyre submitted multiple bogus applications for pandemic money that was supposed to provide a lifeline to small businesses and their employees during a national emergency. He stole from the American taxpayers and the many small businesses that truly needed those loans to survive.

"Whether someone used stolen money to buy luxury goods or fancy cars or exotic farm animals, we intend to find them and hold them accountable."

McIntyre, who used to own Rasta Rasta Pizzeria in Beverly, was accused of using the adult names of his children to submit two fraudulent applications to the U.S. Small Business Administration in 2020 for businesses that did not exist. He also applied for pandemic unemployment assistance benefits on which he falsely claimed that he was unemployed during a time when he was still running the pizza shop.

The U.S. Attorney's Office said he received more than $17,000 in unemployment by the time he sold the business in September 2020

"Dana McIntyre capitalized on a national catastrophe and stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from a limited pool of money set aside to help struggling businesses, to buy a farm, stock it with alpacas, and make a fresh start for himself in Vermont," said Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division. "Today's sentence holds him accountable for his selfish criminal conduct."

Cohen said the FBI will continue to aggressively pursue others like him who are using the money from this economic relief program to pad their own pockets. Those who know of similar instances of fraud are asked to contact 1-800-CALL-FBI.

McIntyre submitted a fraudulent application for a PPP loan of over $660,000 through an SBA-approved lender in April 2020. The U.S. Attorney's Office charged that McIntyre inflated information about the pizzeria's employees and payroll expenses and falsified an official tax form in an effort to qualify the business for a larger loan amount.

After receiving the PPP loan, McIntyre sold the pizzeria and used nearly all the funds to purchase a farm in Vermont, as well as eight alpacas, and other personal expenses, including the two vehicles and airtime for his crypto-currency themed radio show.

"The funds made available through the Paycheck Protection Program were intended to help businesses and their employees get through the financial hardships caused by the COVID-19 pandemic," Special Agent in Charge Christina Scaringi of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. "Mr. McIntyre's greed betrayed the good intentions of the American taxpayer.

"The sentencing today should serve as a reminder that if you defraud pandemic-related government assistance programs, you will be held accountable."

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)