Posted on 05/20/2022 10:55:01 AM PDT by nickcarraway
A '90s actor who starred in the hit TV show "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers" has been charged with perpetuating a scheme to defraud the U.S. government of CARES Act funds, according to the Department of Justice.
Austin St. John, who played the red Power Ranger on the show, which aired from 1993 to 1995, was one of 18 charged with filing fraudulent applications for loans from the Paycheck Protection Program, and transferring them to the two ringleaders of the scheme.
St. John, whose real name is Jason Geiger, allegedly obtained more than $400,000 in fraudulent PPP loans and transferred them to a co-defendant, not for the purposes of using the loans as they were intended. Each of the defendants faces up to 20 years in prison, according to the DOJ.
MORE: Alleged COVID fraudsters charged after raking in nearly $150 million through elaborate schemes: DOJ The Justice Department named Michael Hill and Andrew Moran as the alleged leaders of the scheme.
"Hill is alleged to have recruited co-conspirators to use an existing business or create a business to submit applications to obtain PPP funding," according to a Justice Department press release. "Once enlisted, Moran is alleged to have assisted his co-conspirators with the application paperwork, including fabricating supporting documentation and submitting the application through the online portals."
Court documents allege that St. John transferred $421,000 in fraudulently obtained PPP loans to Hill's bank account.
In total, the defendants allegedly scammed the government out of $3.5 million.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
No one will ever take them down
The power lies on their side.
Too bad he didn’t go for $350 million. He’d be in the clear.
Oh no, what happens to the Megazord without Red Ranger?
Will they let him out to fight Lord Zedd or Rita Repulsa?
Or do the Rangers just need to pick a new Red Ranger and move on.
I think he must have been framed by Lord Drakkon.
Didn’t he tell them who he was? He didn’t play the “don’t you know who I am” card?????
Maybe he’s been out of the public eye so long, nobody nowadays knows who he is anyway.
Looks like this show is still going on and this original character still occasionally makes appearances over the years.
He must have been the white power ranger.
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