A jury in U.S. District Court in St. Louis found a Farmington, Missouri business owner guilty on Friday of all charges he faced, including bank fraud, Clean Air Act violations, and threatening witnesses.
Christopher Carroll, 54, was convicted of three counts of bank fraud, three counts of making false statements to a financial institution, one count of conspiracy to violate the Clean Air Act, 13 violations of the Clean Air Act, and two counts of threatening a witness. Additionally, his company, Whiskey Dix Big Truck Repair LLC, was found guilty of 16 Clean Air Act violations.
“The jury found Christopher Carroll responsible for nearly $3,000,000 in pandemic relief loan fraud, poisoning the air through Clean Air Act violations, and then threatening witnesses to try and cover up his crimes,” said U.S. Attorney Sayler A. Fleming. “He lined his pockets with money that was supposed to save jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic. He used more of the loan money to buy land and a fleet of trucks so he could start a trucking company and then had the emissions control equipment removed to save on fuel costs. We will seek a significant prison sentence for this defendant and his company, and any sentence, by law, will include mandatory restitution.”
“Christopher Carroll’s company was granted millions of dollars from the PPP program but laid off dozens and dozens of its employees,” stated Acting Special Agent in Charge Chris Crocker of the FBI St. Louis Division. “To add insult to injury, Carroll wouldn’t have even qualified for the funds if it weren’t for his employees. We thank the jury for holding Carroll accountable for fleecing the PPP program, which was designed to help people who were out of a job through no fault of their own during the pandemic.”
Evidence presented during the trial revealed that Carroll and his partner, George Reed, submitted a false and fraudulent application for a $1.2 million Pandemic Protection Program loan in April 2020 for their time-share exit company, Square One Group LLC. The application falsely claimed that Reed and Carroll’s wives owned the company, allowing them to conceal Carroll’s status as a paroled felon, which would have disqualified them from receiving PPP funds.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Gwendolyn Carroll explained during closing arguments that Carroll did not use the loan money to pay employees or maintain their health insurance. Instead, within two weeks, Carroll began purchasing trucks and land to start a trucking company. He and Reed later applied for loan forgiveness, falsely claiming the funds were used for payroll and other eligible expenses.
Following the initial fraud, Carroll and Reed sought a second loan exceeding $1.6 million. After securing this loan, they took a total of $660,000 in “owner draws” from the company, according to trial evidence.
The prosecution also highlighted that Carroll removed emissions control equipment designed to reduce pollutants from Whiskey Dix’s diesel trucks, violating the Clean Air Act. During the investigation, Carroll attempted to obstruct justice by asking one employee to “take the fall” and threatening another employee with discontinuing legal support if they cooperated with federal agents, a threat he later carried out.
George Reed, 69, pleaded guilty to bank fraud in September 2022. He admitted to fraudulently applying for, obtaining, and misusing two PPP loans and acknowledged that their company failed to pay a “significant number” of employees despite receiving funds designated for that purpose. Reed also confirmed that Carroll terminated the health insurance benefits of at least 17 employees.
The FBI and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Criminal Investigation Division led the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Gwendolyn Carroll and Kyle Bateman are prosecuting the case.
