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Arroyo Grande couple used COVID relief money to buy a condo in Hawaii

December 16, 2022

Christopher and Erin Mazzei bought a condo at this development in Kapolei, Hawaii for $820,000 in Dec. 2020.

By KAREN VELIE

An Arroyo Grande couple allegedly scammed the federal government out of more than a million dollars they used to purchase two SUVs and for a down payment on a condo in Hawaii.

The couple, Christopher and Erin Mazzei, obtained $1,365,000 in forgivable Paycheck Protection Program loan funds intended for COVID-19 relief for their film production and catering companies, according to a federal indictment. The indictment alleges the couple submitted fraudulent loan applications based on false payroll expenses.

The couple is charged with wire fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy, according to the indictment. They were arraigned in June and remain out of jail on bonds of $50,000 each.

On April 13, 2020, Christopher Mazzei applied for a PPP loan for Gusto on the Go catering claiming he was the only owner of the San Luis Obispo based company, which he reported had 27 employees. However, Christopher Mazzei’s mother was the registered owner of Gusto on the Go, which the state of California suspended on Oct. 1, 2020.

On April 20, 2020, the couple applied for a PPP loan for Better Half Entertainment claiming they had 12 employees, did not own any other businesses and would not be applying for any other PPP loans, none of which was accurate, according to the indictment. The couple allegedly provided the bank with false payroll records.

In 2020, the couple applied for and received eight PPP loans for three businesses: Gusto on the Go catering in San Luis Obispo, Better Half Entertainment in SLO and Better Half Entertainment in Beverly Hills.

Upon conviction, the indictment notes the government plans to seek forfeiture of nearly $600,000 from two bank accounts, $42,000 from a car dealership in San Luis Obispo for the purchase of a Ford Explorer, a property on the 1700 block of Oak Hill Drive in Arroyo Grande and the condo in Hawaii.

“Today’s indictment sends a clear message that those who exploit and defraud financial institutions and the government’s pandemic relief funds will be brought to justice,” said Cory Nootnagel, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Western Region, Office of Inspector General for the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection.

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I take this like a large drug bust on the border, it’s certainly is a good thing but we know theres a lot more out there that is not stopped. Unless you change what allowed it happen in the first place you stand little chance to stop the majority of it.


41

Ooooohhhh, I think I know a HUGE reason why Pam Fitzpatrick’s accounting office was raided.


The folks who have her as their accounting firm, and got PPP, EIDL and ERC money should be very very nervous right now.


Gusto on the Go and the other companies named didn’t prepare their own returns, applications and financial documents to submit for those loans, guaranteed, and knowing that Pam and Reese are friends via their kids going to Mission Prep together . . . the dots are connecting.


I wonder why Pam’s side hustle – owning Black Bear Diner in Santa Maria – just up and shuttered one day in 2022. After weathering the pandemic, through PPP loans . . .



There’s a worthy news story in here, for sure. I wonder if it’ll ever get investigated and broken.


54

You “think” wrong. There are no dots to connect here. Please do some actual due diligence before posting comments on a public forum. Better yet, maybe reach out and talk to the people you are mentioning by name. We are real people, with real families in this community.


-59

Correction “some” of those who defraud the government will indeed be brought to justice, however, where were the safeguards to prevent this from happening in the first place?


25

Hopefully there will be more of them caught,

Pandemic-related fraud totaled billions. California is trying to get some of it back – https://www.npr.org/2022/10/18/1128561539/pandemic-fraud-billions-california


34

Who didn’t abuse that program? I hope the indictments keep coming.


44

The rich are always gaming the system and or rigging it for their benefit, waging ears, making profit, yet blame the poor and call the ones who fell through societal cracks leaches born without silver spoons in their mouth. Pretty pathetic, this is why courts are clogged and society is failing, greed.


18

Just imagine what does not get caught.


46

I know Chris & Erin , his Mom & his step Dad Reese Davies a retired prominent banker ( First Bank of SLO)…. these are up standing SLO Community members who hob nob with the whos who & rich and famous of SLO…

What a disgrace and total embarrassment to make the papers in such a shameful way. These people are already loaded with lots of money , drive expensive cars and live in mult-million million dollar homes…

There is No need to Cheat the government , people or any entity when you are very wealthy and live enviable lives!! This really blew my mind today when I read it….

I could never imagine this type of behavior from these quality people !

So sad…With all the homeless and starving people in this community , I would expect these type to be Community pillars and help others… To be on the same level as Scott Peterson and multiple California inmates, including other convicted murderers, who have received fraudulent COVID-19 relief is totally wrong!! This is NOT Mission High School or College educated behavior ….This is pure Greed & Criminal and definitely not warranted……


90

I wholeheartedly agree with you. Remember too, these people have the money to PAY a professional (Fitzpatrick Accounting – another Mission Prep connection w/the Fitzpatrick girls) to do all the paperwork and submit the applications for all those fraudulent *payouts*.


It’s pretty interesting that Fitzpatrick Accounting gets raided by the FBI *and* the IRS in a joint raid, just a few short weeks ago, and now this story breaks as well.


These threads, if pulled, would unravel a whole pile of local, prominent, business owners’ dirty laundry. The IRS and the FBI are pulling those threads. Will this local news outlet attempt to investigate these *coincidences* ?


But what do I know – I’m just a big ‘ol meanie on the internet (lol)


49

You have NO idea what you are talking about. I do not know you and your assumptions are completely false. It’s so easy to sit behind your computer and create a false narrative in your head though, isn’t it?


-53

Denis, I personally have never met or spoken to you, so for you to say that you “know” me is false. Also based on your assessment of what you THINK is our lifestyle, you don’t know my husband, Chris, his mother, or Reese Davies. I would love to know where you got your information though!


These are false allegations (not convictions) that have been made against us and we intend to prove that in court. If you (or anyone, for that matter) would like to talk face to face regarding the situation we are currently involved in, I would be happy to do so. We are real people, with a real family that live in this community and to be flippantly compared to a convicted murder is insulting, to say the least. Shame on you!


I pray none of you are ever accused of a crime you did not commit and are subsequently subject to our broken legal system (which, by the way, states we are innocent until proven guilty) or the poor “investigative” journalism that is Cal Coast News.


Also, congratulations to Karen Velie for “breaking” a local news story that was originally reported on SEVEN months ago in a completely different state.


-48

Do you deny submitting the PPP applications and receiving payments?


33

So you didn’t take out the PPP loans?


22

Dear Erin


1. Are you telling me that Reese Davies has never personally secured business loans for my former restaurant the EDNA VALLEY BISTRO through First Bank of San Luis and that I don’t know him ?


2. Are you telling me that I never assisted your mother in law Vicky Mazzei 20 years ago with catering efforts for the movie your husband Chris wrote called “Devious Beings” and that I don’t know her?


3. Are you telling me I never seated or greeted and even visited with You or your husband Chris numerous times over many many years at my family’s Italian restaurant (initials “CR”) directly in front of the Railroad station in San Luis Obispo and that I don’t know the both of you?


Erin Its quite obvious you are very very upset and also in denial and I also assume you don’t suffer from memory loss or temporary amnesia… but please don’t attempt to suppress the truth or discredit me as someone who does not know your family or you !


Glad to re-meet you again face to face anytime to discuss this situation you are currently involved in as you just offered in writing in this forum….


Cordially Denis Rizzo denis@longlite.us.com


46

Oof, Erin. You’ve got to stop responding, your Lawyer is going to be not happy with this.


You should also take down the April 2020 post on the industry page announcing the closure of Gusto. That’s not going to be a good look.


16

Shame on them for taking advantage but also shame on the gov for being able to be taken advantage of :/, that’s just embarrassing.


59
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