Durham man used millions in COVID relief for mortgages, plastic surgery

A Durham man stole $2.9 million in funding meant for businesses struggling during the pandemic.

Reynold Mullen, 48, is set to set to spend the next seven years in prison, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday.

Mullen pleaded guilty in April 2023 to fraud-related charges around mortgage and COVID relief funds.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Mullen fraudulently obtained more than $1.3 million in mortgages. The office also said Mullen obtained more than $1.6 million in economic injury disaster loan and paycheck protection proceeds.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Mullen used credit reports and fake bank statements to buy multiple properties and pay for his plastic surgery.

The U.S. Attorney's Office says between 2019 and 2021, Mullen and his girlfriend Tiffany Russell used fake credit reports and bank statements to obtain four mortgages totaling $1,374,000. The properties were in Miami, Rocky Mount and Nags Head.

Between March 2020 and July 2021, they also submitted fake applications for COVID relief funds, and obtained more than $1.6 million in taxpayer dollars. The money went to six properties and Mullen's plastic surgery, authorities said.

“This white-collar fraud on American taxpayers is stunning,” U.S. Attorney Michael Easley wrote. “We live in a generous nation that lends a hand to those in need.

“When defendants like Mullen take advantage of that generosity – to buy beach houses and plastic surgery – we will fight for every penny to be returned to the public purse.”

Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS CI) Assistant Special Agent in Charge Brian Thomas echoed Easley’s sentiments.

“Mullen not only used washed credit reports and fabricated bank statements to obtain mortgages; he also took advantage of aid programs intended to provide critical relief for hardworking members of our communities impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak by fraudulently obtaining pandemic program loans,” Thomas wrote. “IRS CI, along with our law enforcement partners remain vigilant in identifying, investigating, and recommending those individuals for prosecution who willfully seek to defraud the United States Treasury and blatantly disregard the victims of their schemes.”

Russell, who is a Durham attorney, also pleaded guilty to multiple fraud schemes in 2022. She was charged with using a fake identity to purchase a BMW and get a credit card to pay for her 2016 buttocks augmentation surgery.

In May 2022, Russell was sentenced to five years and three months in prison. She also has five years of supervised release for her role in the scheme.

Their case is one of many.

The Associated Press estimates more than $280 billion in COVID relief money was potentially stolen.