SCRANTON, Pa. (WHTM) — Darryl Corradini, 63, and Vicki Hackenberg, 57, both of Bloomsburg, were charged with fraud after receiving nearly $300,000 in COVID-19 relief funds from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP.)

The PPP is designed to help small businesses facing financial difficulties during the
COVID-19 pandemic. Funded by the March 2020 CARES Act, PPP funds are offered in
forgivable loans provided that certain criteria are met, including use of the funds for employee
payroll, mortgage interest, lease, and utility expenses.

A federal grand jury charged the couple after an indictment alleged that Corradini, Hackenberg, and other co-conspirators created a shell corporation named CGM Realty LLC, and opened bank accounts and a bitcoin account in the businesses’ name. They used the accounts to receive over $135,000 in fraudulently obtained funds and almost $300,000 from a PPP loan that was obtained with false documentation. Over $350,000 was then used to purchase bitcoin.

The company had no employees or business operations.

Corradini and Hackenberg are charged with conspiring to commit bank fraud and with
two counts of committing bank fraud for submitting false and fraudulent documentation to obtain
the PPP loan. They also are charged with two counts of making false statements on loan
applications, with conspiring to commit money laundering, and with three counts of engaging in
unlawful monetary transactions by purchasing Bitcoins with the fraudulently obtained PPP loan.
Corradini is charged with one count of making false statements to IRS agents that he did not
have access to CGM Realty LLC’s bank account. Hackenberg is charged with two counts of
making false statements to IRS agents that she had no knowledge of CGM Realty LLC, and that
she had not communicated with other coconspirators in over a year.