Engagement ring targeted by feds in man’s alleged $2.6 million COVID loan scheme
Daniel Joseph Tisone held himself out as a successful entrepreneur from Naples, Florida, with a business degree and thriving investment portfolio in his applications for federal COVID-19 relief money.
But prosecutors said the 34-year-old didn’t mention his conviction in a failed robbery attempt in college that involved pistol-whipping a student — and that the registration for most of his businesses had lapsed before the start of the pandemic.
Now Tisone has been indicted on felony fraud charges in the Middle District of Florida stemming from allegations he submitted bogus documents to nab $2.6 million in federal COVID-19 loans.
Prosecutors said Tisone used the money to buy at least two homes in Naples, bulk purchase securities and stockpile ammunition for guns he wasn’t allowed to own. The government has ordered him to forfeit several of his expensive belongings as a result — including his boat and a custom 4-carat diamond engagement ring.
Tisone was arrested March 31 and has since posted a $250,000 bond.
A grand jury indicted him April 20 on 18 counts of wire fraud, bank fraud, identity theft, illegal monetary transactions and unlawful possession of ammunition by a convicted felon.
But in a statement to McClatchy News on Monday, April 25, Tisone’s defense attorney said there is more to it than the indictment suggests.
“The indictment fails to reveal all the facts and circumstances surrounding this case,” Mark Eiglarsh said. “I’ve entered a ‘Not Guilty’ plea on behalf of my client and have demanded a jury trial. At the appropriate time, we will reveal in court evidence that both negates and/or mitigates his guilt.”
Bogus business ventures
Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act at the start of the pandemic in March 2020 to stave off economic downturn. The package included billions of dollars in forgivable loans for small businesses known as the Paycheck Protection Program, or PPP, as well as an expansion of the Economic Injury Disaster Loan, or EIDL, program.
It also included a third program through the Treasury Department known as the Main Street Lending Program, through which small and medium-sized businesses qualified for financial assistance.
Tisone applied for funds from all three programs using at least five companies that were at one time registered in his name, prosecutors said.
The businesses included an eco-friendly car wash in Virginia known as Rub a Dub Eco Wash, a car care services company for electric and autonomous vehicles called Rub a Dub, and a holding company for “high-growth mixed-use properties” known as TEC Ventures.
An FBI agent investigating the case said Tisone’s name is attached to a Yelp page for the car wash company, which mentions that he studied accounting and finance, mentors troubled teens and is a member of the American Sailing Association in Washington, D.C.
Tisone also maintains a website for TEC Ventures in which he is listed as the president and has a bio that describes him as a “successful business developer” with skills in “business strategy, investor relations, capital raising and innovation.”
Both his TEC Ventures bio and his LinkedIn page state that he graduated from Catholic University Busch School of Business & Economics, during which time he says he started Rub a Dub.
Records with the Virginia State Corporation Commission show Tisone incorporated his five companies between 2013 and 2017, but all of them appear to have become inactive within a year of two of their registration. Tisone then reactivated several of them between March and July 2020.
Prosecutors said that’s because he filed bogus applications for federal loans on behalf of the businesses around the same time.
The applications reportedly included made-up figures for his monthly payroll expenses, the number of individuals he employed and the company’s gross revenue. Tisone is also accused of doctoring payroll and tax documents he submitted with the applications as well as using the names and Social Security numbers of other people he said worked for him.
Prosecutors said the applications failed to mention Tisone’s two felony convictions from 2007 and 2012 that would have made him ineligible for certain pandemic assistance.
Feds seek engagement ring, luxury yacht
When Tisone was a 19-year-old sophomore attending Hofstra University in 2006, he was accused of trying to rob another student, the Hofstra Chronicle reported. He was accused of planning to steal the student’s cocaine and laptop during a drug deal, but an altercation ensued and he fled, court documents show.
A jury convicted him the following year on charges of attempted robbery, hindering prosecution and assault. He was sentenced to six years in prison but was released after two, according to New York corrections records.
Tisone reportedly didn’t include the conviction — or his later conviction on charges of possessing a controlled substance — in his 10 applications for MSLP, EID and PPP loans, resulting in the government depositing more than $2.6 million into his bank accounts between March 2020 and April 2021.
Prosecutors first charged Tisone in a criminal complaint on March 30, court documents show, and a grand jury returned the indictment after his arrest. He pleaded not guilty during an arraignment hearing on April 21.
If he is convicted, Tisone faces up to 30 years in prison for each count of wire and bank fraud, at least two years for each count of identity theft, and up to 10 years for each count of illegal monetary transactions and possession of ammunition.
Prosecutors also ordered him to forfeit:
▪ $2.6 million constituting the amount he gained during the alleged scheme
▪ More than $65,000 from TEC Ventures’ bank accounts
▪ A 4-carat oval cut, lab-grown diamond engagement ring with a custom 18K yellow-gold band setting that he reportedly bought in September
▪ A luxury yacht
▪ A waterfront condo in Naples
▪ A $3 million single-family home in Naples
▪ Assorted ammunition
A status conference is set for May 9, and the judge set Tisone’s case for trial during the June 1 term.
This story was originally published April 25, 2022 at 1:41 PM with the headline "Engagement ring targeted by feds in man’s alleged $2.6 million COVID loan scheme."
