Miami man bought Lamborghini with federal pandemic funds. Now, he faces prison sentence
With a Lamborghini as his ride, Valesky Barosy was living large thanks to federal funds that he was accused of stealing from a COVID-19 relief program for struggling businesses.
But unlike dozens of others who’ve been charged with fleecing millions from the government’s pandemic program, the 28-year-old Miami man went to trial instead of striking a plea deal.
On Monday, a federal jury quickly found Barosy guilty of nine counts of wire fraud, money laundering and aggravated identity theft. He now faces 20 years or more in prison at his sentencing on Feb. 23 before U.S. District Judge Rodney Smith in Fort Lauderdale federal court.
Barosy was not shy about showing off his exploits while ripping off the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Procaused gram, posting social-media shots of himself driving an exotic Lamborghini and flying on a private jet. He boasted an Instagram account with more than 110,000 followers.
He touted himself as an immigrant success story, arriving from Haiti a decade ago, working his way up from a menial job at Walmart to “regional vice president” of a credit-repair company that purportedly racked up “$3.6 million in sales,” according to court records.
But in reality, federal authorities say, Barosy was ripping off taxpayers — fraudulently securing $2.1 million in loans from the PPP system to buy classic Miami status symbols: a Lamborghini Huracán EVO, Rolex and Hublot watches, and designer clothing from Louis Vuitton, Gucci and Chanel.
The Paycheck Protection Program was approved by Congress in 2020 to help businesses decimated following shutdowns
by the rapid spread of the coronavirus. The program allowed for the loans to be forgiven if borrowers followed certain criteria.
As the nation’s No. 1 fraud capital, South Florida has led the financial crime wave that followed the passage of the CARES Act, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
In South Florida, that has included a businessman using PPP money to buy a $318,000 Lamborghini, a nurse alleged to have lied about his business to get $474,000 that was used in part to pay a Mercedes-Benz lease and child support, and a North
Miami suburban couple who claimed to be farmers to qualify for $1 million in relief benefits.
Around the same time that Barosy was arrested last December, two Florida men pleaded guilty to helping arrange over $35 million in PPP loans. The ring also netted the conviction of former NFL player Joshua Bellamy, who was sentenced to more than three years in prison for wire-fraud conspiracy.
According to an indictment, Barosy was the president of VBarosySolutions Inc. (VBS).
For various loans, Barosy fabricated prior-year expenses, net profit and
payroll, and submitted bogus IRS tax forms to secure the payments, which were then used to buy the Lambo, the watches and the clothes, according to the indictment.
On Instagram, he posed often with the white Lambo, pitching himself as an inspiring mentor. “It’s not the Lamborghini or the million dollar home that will inspire the world but the trials and tribulations you overcame,” he wrote in one post.