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Love & Hip Hop star Mo Fayne is sentenced to 17.5 years behind bars after using a PPP loan to buy $85,000 worth of jewelry, a $136,000 Rolls-Royce and $40,000 in past-due child support

  Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta star and rapper Mo Fayne has been sentenced to 17.5 years in prison and must pay $4,465,866 in restitution for...

 Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta star and rapper Mo Fayne has been sentenced to 17.5 years in prison and must pay $4,465,866 in restitution for his role in a federal bank fraud.

The 38-year-old reality TV personality pleaded guilty to six counts, including bank and wire fraud, after funding an over-the-top lifestyle during the pandemic with money from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).

The money was meant to help small businesses and employees gravely impacted by Covid-19 keep their workers and maintain payroll. 

Fayne submitted a fraud $3.7million PPP loan application falsely claiming his trucking business - Flame Truckinig - had 107 employees and an average monthly payroll of $1,490,000, 

Reality TV star and rapper Mo Fayne (pictured) has been sentenced to 17.5 years in prison and must pay $4,465,865.55 in restitution for his role in a federal bank fraud after funding an over-the-top lifestyle during the pandemic with money from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP)

He used the money he received from a fraud PPP application to buy $85,000 worth of jewelry; a $136,000 Rolls-Royce; $40,000 in past-due child support; and $90,000 to start a new business in Atlanta
He used the money he received from a fraud PPP application to buy $85,000 worth of jewelry; a $136,000 Rolls-Royce; $40,000 in past-due child support; and $90,000 to start a new business in Atlanta

He used the money he received from a fraud PPP application to buy $85,000 worth of jewelry; a $136,000 Rolls-Royce; $40,000 in past-due child support; and $90,000 to start a new business in Atlanta

He used the money to buy $85,000 worth of jewelry; a $136,000 Rolls-Royce; $40,000 in past-due child support; and $90,000 to start a new business in Atlanta, according to TMZ.

Fayne cut a plea deal with prosecutors who agreed to drop 14 other charges and recommended he spend 151 months behind bars. On Wednesday a judge ruled 210 months in prison instead.

If he didn't cut the plea deal the reality star faced a 30-year sentence for making the false statement to a federally-insured financial institution and money laundering, in addition to wire fraud in connection with a Ponzi scheme.

Fayne first made headlines when he was arrested back in May 2020 for the crime. He was indicted in Georgia by a federal grand jury a month later.   

Authorities said that Fayne's Ponzi scheme involved him posing as the owner of Flame Trucking, a profitable trucking company, from August 2014 through May 2020.

The business, however, never actually made enough money to cover its expenses, according to the US Attorney's Office.


During that time, Fayne supposedly managed to get 20 people to invest over $5million in the company, promising to use the money to purchase and operate his trucks.

Instead, authorities said, he used the money to 'pay his personal debts and expenses, and to fund an extravagant lifestyle for himself'. 

Fayne allegedly transferred more than $5million to a casino to cover his personal gambling and entertainment expenses among tens of thousands of dollars in cash withdrawals, custom-made jewelry and child support. 

He also allegedly used $50,000 for restitution owed in a previous fraud case, $230,000 to associates who helped him run a Ponzi scheme and $907,000 to help an associate start a new business.

It's unclear if the associates paid for the Ponzi scheme were also involved in the alleged Flame Trucking scheme.

The money was meant to help small businesses and employees gravely impacted by Covid-19 keep their workers and maintain payroll. Instead, authorities said, he used the money to 'pay his personal debts and expenses, and to fund an extravagant lifestyle for himself'

The money was meant to help small businesses and employees gravely impacted by Covid-19 keep their workers and maintain payroll. Instead, authorities said, he used the money to 'pay his personal debts and expenses, and to fund an extravagant lifestyle for himself'

Fayne (pictured left with Karlie Redd) - aka Arkansas Mo - appeared in eight episodes of Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta, while he was star Karlie Redd's fiancé. They appear to have split up since then

Fayne (pictured left with Karlie Redd) - aka Arkansas Mo - appeared in eight episodes of Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta, while he was star Karlie Redd's fiancé. They appear to have split up since then

Fayne's loan spending apparently raised red flags at United Community Bank, due to the way he 'allegedly structured those financial transactions to conceal and disguise the nature, location, source, ownership, and control of the proceeds'.

When the bank asked for more information about Flame Trucking’s finances, Fayne allegedly sent October, November and December 2019 bank statements for Flame Trucking’s account at Arvest Bank. 

But authorities said Arvest Bank had closed Flame Trucking's account in September 2019, so Fayne was aware that those statements he sent to United Community Bank were fraudulent.

Later when interviewed by federal agents Fayne claimed that he used the PPP loan to pay for the trucking company's payroll and other business expenses, denying that he'd used them for personal expenses.

 During the investigation, federal agents seized what they believed to be the proceeds of Fayne's PPP bank fraud scheme.

In the jewelry category, they seized a $3,750 diamond ring, a $24,500 diamond bracelet and a $52,000 Rolex watch.

They also seized money from him, including $617,000 from seven bank accounts; the $136,000 Rolls-Royce down payment and $79,482 in cash from his home.

From Flame Trucking, they seized eight Kenworth T-680 trucks and six Great Dane refrigerated trailers. 

Fayne - aka Arkansas Mo - appeared in eight episodes of Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta, while he was star Karlie Redd's fiance. They appear to have split up since then. 

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