Marietta man convicted of $9.6 million PPP loan fraud and $3.4 million tax fraud schemes

Date: July 30, 2025

Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov

ATLANTA — Following a weeklong trial, Carl Delano Torjagbo, a.k.a. Karl Lucius Delano, was convicted by a federal jury of bank fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering after obtaining a fraudulent $9.6 million Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) loan and filing fraudulent tax returns that generated a $3.4 million IRS refund.

“This defendant’s massive PPP fraud abused a valuable program intended to assist struggling Americans during a global pandemic. The defendant then compounded his harm by claiming a fraudulent $3.4 million tax refund,” said U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg. “Torjagbo’s conviction signals my office’s relentless pursuit and prosecution of those engaged in fraud, waste, and abuse at the expense of honest taxpayers.”

“Torjagbo defrauded a federal loan program of which its intended use was to assist businesses in covering rent, utility payments, and other job saving needs during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Special Agent in Charge Demetrius Hardeman, IRS Criminal Investigation, Atlanta Field Office. “Taxpayers’ money that should have gone to these businesses instead went to Torjagbo, who then used it to fund his lavish lifestyle. IRS Criminal Investigation special agents, along with our federal and state law enforcement partners, will continue identifying, investigating, and bringing to prosecution individuals and companies who took advantage of a program Americans desperately needed during a period of economic hardship.”

“Legitimate PPP loans saved small businesses across our country,” said FBI Atlanta Special Agent in Charge Paul Brown. “Torjagbo chose greed over compassion. He will now be held accountable for his actions.”

“The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) aggressively pursues those who abuse the tax administration process for unlawful purposes,” said TIGTA Special Agent-in-Charge Joel Weaver. “We appreciate the efforts of our law enforcement partners and the U.S. Attorney’s Office to ensure individuals engaged in such criminal activity are held accountable to the American people."

According to U.S. Attorney Hertzberg, the charges, and information presented at trial: On Feb. 13, 2021, Torjagbo submitted two individual tax returns to the IRS. Each tax return was submitted using a different social security number and associated date of birth. The tax returns falsely alleged that Torjagbo had millions of dollars in losses that offset earnings from his purported African gold mine business, Kremkov Industries. The false representations resulted in a U.S. Treasury check being issued to Torjagbo in the amount of $3,366,240.76.

Just days later, on Feb. 16, 2021, Torjagbo signed a PPP loan application requesting a $9,554,425 PPP loan for Kremkov Industries. He falsely certified that Kremkov Industries was in operation on Feb. 15, 2020, which was required for a company to be eligible for a PPP loan; that he had 493 employees whose principal places of residence were in the United States; and that the company had an average monthly payroll of nearly $4 million. Torjagbo also falsely certified that all loan proceeds would be used only for business-related purposes and submitted fraudulent documents to the bank, including false tax returns and fake payroll reports that listed nearly a dozen celebrities and fictional characters as purported employees of Kremkov Industries.

On March 29, 2021, Torjagbo received approximately $9.6 million in PPP loan proceeds. Instead of using it for purposes consistent with the PPP, he commingled the funds with the fraudulently obtained $3.4 million tax refund and paid personal debts and expenses, including the following:

• $1,677,861.01 for his personal residence;
• $332,999.80 for a 2014 Lamborghini Aventador;
• $120,799.79 for a 2022 BMW M850xi;
• $90,520 for a 2021 Land Rover Range Rover Velar;
• $51,000 for the downpayment on a 72-foot yacht;
• over $1,000,000 for real estate, trucks, and trailers to start a new business; and
• more than $15,000 for plastic surgery.

On July 25, 2025, a jury convicted Torjagbo, of Marietta, Georgia, of bank fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering. He faces a maximum of 170 years of imprisonment followed by five years of supervised release. In determining the actual sentence, the Court will consider the United States Sentencing Guidelines, which are not binding but provide appropriate sentencing ranges for most offenders.

Sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 3, 2025, at 10 a.m. before United States District Judge Michael L. Brown.

This case is being investigated by the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. The Social Security Administration, Office of Inspector General provided considerable assistance.

Assistant United States Attorneys Kelly K. Connors and Nicholas L. Evert are prosecuting the case.

On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, among other methods, augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts.

IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) is the law enforcement arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. IRS-CI special agents are the only federal law enforcement agents with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code, obtaining a 90% federal conviction rate. The agency has 19 field offices located across the U.S. and 14 attaché posts abroad.