According to an indictment, the 35-year-old allegedly filled out two applications for COVID-19 relief money for fabricated businesses — Vak Shack Inc. and Harding Farms.
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Harding stated in an application for an Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) that the two businesses had over a half a dozen employees and gross revenue of more than $800,000 from the previous year. However, according to the indictment, the companies had no employees, and they had been dormant for months before the applications were filed.
Harding applied for $150,000 in loans “he was not entitled” to, according to the DOJ. After receiving the proceeds, while he was still in office, Harding allegedly made three illegal monetary transactions, each totaling more than $10,000.
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The former state representative transferred the money to his joint bank account, transferred money into a bank account of a third-party business and made a payment on a credit card bill, the indictment says.
Harding’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for July 25, 2023, at 11 a.m. at the United States Courthouse in Gainesville, Florida. Harding faces prison time for wire fraud, money laundering and making false statements.
