Kentucky man admits laundering money to pay for motorcycles, new kitchen, plastic surgery
A Kentucky man has admitted using money from $1 million in fraudulent loans to buy cars and motorcycles, renovate his kitchen and pay for his wife’s plastic surgery.
Joshua Daniel Pennington, of Laurel County, pleaded guilty on Jan. 17 to a federal charge of conspiracy to commit money laundering between May 2020 and June 2021.
The fraud involved loans from the federal government through COVID-19 relief programs, according to the court record.
Pennington and Nicole Marcelle Pennington were married in 2020 when she allegedly applied for loans through programs designed to help small businesses hurt by the economic downturn that happened during the pandemic.
Nicole Pennington is charged with providing false information, including false bank statements and tax forms, in applications for relief money for businesses that included a vape shop in London.
An indictment charged that Nicole Pennington submitted 40 applications for pandemic relief loans and six were approved, for a total of $1,090,498 in fraudulent loans.
She is charged with wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering and money laundering. The money laundering charge said she spent $20,436 on a cruise.
She has pleaded not guilty.
Nicole and Joshua Pennington separated in June 2021 and later divorced, according to court records.
They are charged separately in federal court.
The charge against Joshua Pennington said that money from the fraudulent loans was deposited into accounts they could both access and that they used the money for personal expenses.
Pennington withdrew cash, bought cars and motorcycles and paid for plastic surgery for his then-wife, and the two of them used loan money to remodel their kitchen, according to the charge against him.
The property Pennington agreed to forfeit to the government includes a 2020 Cadillac Escalade, a 2017 Infiniti QX80 and two Harley-Davidson motorcycles.
He faces up to 10 years in prison.
The most serious charges against his ex-wife carry a sentence of up to 20 years in prison.
