A 32-year-old St. Paul man was indicted by a federal grand jury on fraud and money laundering charges, accused of obtaining $841,000 in fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program loans created to help small businesses harmed by COVID-19.

Instead, prosecutors say, Kyle William Brenizer bought a $29,000 Harley-Davidson motorcycle and transferred the bulk of the loan that he obtained to a bank account unrelated to his contracting and construction company that had recently been denied a loan under the program.

According to charges, Brenizer's Brooklyn Park-based True-Cut Construction LLC had been ordered by the state to cease and desist from doing business in August 2018, and in December 2019, its contractor license lapsed and was not renewed.

Brenizer first submitted a loan application for the PPP program seeking $841,000 on May 1 and was denied. Under the program, approved by Congress this year at the beginning of the pandemic, qualifying small businesses can get two-year loans to cover payroll costs, mortgage, rent or utility expenses. Brenizer again tried to obtain the funds on May 12, but this time he used the name of another person, the indictment says. He allegedly falsely represented that the other, unidentified person owned 90% of the company. He also falsely stated that the company's average monthly payroll was $336,400 for about 30 employees, the indictment says.

Prosecutors allege that Brenizer used phony bank statements and IRS documents in his loan applications, and was approved for a PPP loan on his second try.

Brenizer was charged in a sealed indictment Wednesday with two counts of wire fraud and two counts of money laundering. He was arrested Friday and appeared before a federal judge in St. Paul, where he was ordered to stay in custody pending an Aug. 26 detention and arraignment hearing.

Brenizer also has been named in multiple state felony charges of check forgery, identity theft and theft by swindle, the indictment says, but he denied having any pending criminal charges in his application.

The Justice Department is seeking tips on COVID-19-related fraud cases through its National Center for Disaster Fraud Hotline at 866-720-5721.

Stephen Montemayor • 651-925-5048

Twitter: @smontemayor