Beverly Pizzeria Owner Turned Alpaca Farmer Pleads Guilty To $660K Covid Fraud

BEVERLY, MA — The former owner of Rasta Pasta Pizzeria accused of using more than $660,000 in falsely obtained COVID-relief funds to buy two vehicles, airtime for his cryptocurrency radio show and an alpaca farm in Vermont pleaded guilty to fraud and money laundering charges in federal court on Thursday, according to the U.S. District Attorney's Office.

Dana McIntyre, who previously lived in Beverly and Essex before moving to Grafton, Vermont upon purchase of the alpaca farm, pleaded guilty to four counts of wire fraud and three counts of money laundering.

He is scheduled for sentencing on July 12.

McIntyre was indicted by a federal grand jury in May 2021 after being charged with submitting fraudulent applications for Paycheck Protection Program and other federal funding during the height of the coronavirus pandemic.

The U.S. Attorney's Office said McIntyre falsely claimed that he was not working or receiving income as a result of the pandemic, while he was still operating the restaurant and paying himself income from the business. Court documents said he collected more than $17,000 in unemployment payments before September 2020 when he sold the business.

He was also accused of using the names of his adult children to submit two fraudulent applications to the U.S. Small Business Administration for Economic Injury Disaster Loans for fictitious businesses.

Court documents said his $660,000 Small Business Administration loan application included inflated information about Rasta Pasta's employees and payroll expenses and falsified an official tax form. McIntyre claimed the pizzeria had nearly 50 employees, however, the U.S. Attorney's Office said an investigation showed McIntyre paid fewer than 10 employees at any time before or after the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

McIntyre then used the funds to purchase and improve an alpaca farm in Vermont, the two vehicles and air time for his radio show.

The PPP program, through the federal CARES Act, was intended to allow small businesses to retain employees and pay certain business-related expenses during the pandemic through forgivable loans.

The charge of wire fraud provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000, or twice the gross gain or loss from the scheme, whichever is greater. The charge of money laundering provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in
prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $500,000, or twice the value of the criminally derived property.

(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.)