Naples ex-con charged with $2.5 million COVID fraud

NAPLES — A 34-year old convicted felon living in Naples has been arrested for allegedly defrauding the federal government and banks to get more than $2.5 million in COVID-19 relief funds.

Daniel Joseph Tisone is charged with wire fraud, bank fraud and illegal monetary transactions. If convicted, prosecutors say he faces 30 years in federal prison for each fraud count and up to 10 years for the illegal monetary transactions.

Prosecutors allege Tisone submitted false loan applications to the U.S. SBA and approved lenders for Economic Injury Disaster Loan, Main Street Lending Program and Paycheck Protection Program loans.

These applications included “numerous false representations,” including his criminal history, average monthly payroll, number of employees and gross revenue. To back up the false assertions, he allegedly submitted fictitious payroll and tax documents and a fake commercial lease.

In all, he was able to get $2.5 million which was allegedly used to buy more than $1 million in stock and securities investments and to buy a house at 1530 Mandarin Road in Naples.

According to the criminal complaint signed by the FBI special agent in charge of the investigation, Tisone moved to Collier County around February 2018.

This was a little more than 10 years after being convicted in Nassau County, New York in October 2007 of committing four felonies  — attempted robbery, 1st degree; assault, 2nd degree; attempted robbery, 2nd degree; and hindering prosecution — and more than six years after being convicted of another felony in Loudoun County, Virginia — possession of a schedule II controlled substance.

The criminal complaint doesn’t say whether Tisone served time in prison.

The reason the previous convictions are important is because his previous criminal record would have automatically disqualified him when applying for the Economic Injury Disaster Loan. The application, the federal agent writes in the complaint, specifically asks if the person has been convicted, plead nolo contendere, been placed on pretrial diversion or been placed on any form of probation.

Tisone answered no.

That was just one issue with the loan applications that were allegedly littered with misinformation and falsehoods.

According to the complaint, by the time of the move he had incorporated five business in Delaware and Virginia — TEC Ventures LLC, Rub a Dub LLC, Rub a Dub Holdings Inc., Rub a Dub Atlantic LLC and Rub a Dub Marines LLC.

Tisone applied for, and received funds, for each business and the $2.5 million funds were deposited in bank accounts he controlled. 

As for the home, prosecutors allege he used about $98,000 of the funds from the loan to buy the house which he paid, according to county property records, $735,000 for Sept. 1 2021. It was resold Nov. 29. 2021 for $1.8 million to a company called 1530 Mandarin LLC.  

According to the Florida Department of Corporations, the address for the LLC is 222 Harbour Dr. unit 507. That is the address Tisone was residing at when he applied for the loans according to the criminal complaint.