GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A Kentwood man pled guilty Thursday to using government COVID-19 business loans for his own personal expenses.
Kurtis James Vandermolen, 50, pleaded guilty to bank fraud and money laundering. He could face up to 40 years in prison with three years of supervised release and hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines.
Vandermolen has a criminal justice degree from Grand Valley State University, a ministry called Grace Changes Everything and a couple of self-published books. He had no comment for News 8 while outside of the courtroom on Thursday.
In July 2020, Vandermolen applied for a government loan through the Paycheck Protection Program. His application was for a fake company called Breakout Strategies Corporation, which Vandermolen alleged had been in business since January of that year and had 11 employees, court documents say. He was granted a loan of $100,641, which was put into an account in the name of the fake company.
www.woodtv.com/news/grand-rapids/man-admits-to-using-covid-19-loan-to-buy-convertible-wedding/