Former Beverly pizzeria owner admits he defrauded federal Covid-relief fund to finance his new life as a Vermont alpaca farmer

The former owner of a Beverly pizza place admitted last week he obtained federal Covid-19 payroll-support funds based on employees he didn't have so he could retire to the life of a gentleman alpaca farm and cryptocurrency radio host in Vermont, the US Attorney's office reports.

Dana McIntyre, 59, who still lives in Grafton, VT, despite having his woolly dreams interrupted by federal investigators, now awaits sentencing on July 12 on four counts of wire fraud and three counts of money laundering. Each of the charges carries a maximum potential sentence of 20 years in federal prison.

McIntyre is the former owner of Rasta Pasta Pizzeria in Beverly. In March 2020, McIntyre used the names of his adult children to submit two fraudulent applications to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) for Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) for fictitious businesses. Beginning in April 2020, McIntyre submitted an application and weekly certifications in order to receive Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) benefits. In these filings, McIntyre falsely claimed that he was not working or receiving income as a result of the pandemic, while McIntyre in fact was still operating the restaurant and paying himself income from the business. By September 2020, when McIntyre sold the restaurant, he had received over $17,000 in PUA and related benefits that he was not entitled to receive.

In April 2020, McIntyre submitted a fraudulent application for a PPP loan of over $660,000 through an SBA-approved lender. In the application, McIntyre inflated information about the pizzeria’s employees and payroll expenses and falsified an official tax form in an effort to qualify the business for a larger loan amount. After receiving a PPP loan of over $660,000, McIntyre sold the pizzeria and used nearly all the funds to purchase and improve an alpaca farm in Vermont and on other personal expenses, including two vehicles and air time for his crypto-currency themed radio show.

According to an affidavit by an FBI agent on the case, McIntyre used the PPP funds - based on a claim he had 47 employees at his pizza place, rather than the three or four he actually had - to buy a farm in Grafton, VT, for $395,000. He then stocked the farm with alpacas for which he paid almost $10,000, as well as spending $7,800 to buy fencing for them and $16,555 for storage sheds, according to the affidavit. He also paid $14,000 for a 2007 GMC Sierra and $8,500 for a 1950 Hudson.

Once the farm was outfitted and operational, McIntyre sold Rasta Pasta.