Eden Prairie, MN — Harold Bennie Kaeding, 75, was sentenced to 87 months in federal prison on charges of fraud and money laundering for defrauding the U.S. government’s COVID-19 relief funds. Kaeding, who was convicted of applying for over $2.1 million in fraudulent loans, also faces three years of supervised release and is ordered to pay restitution.
Between March and May 2020, Kaeding submitted fraudulent applications for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) Program, using fabricated business records and personal information of family members. The businesses he applied for were nonexistent or defunct, with no record of employee wages or tax filings.
After receiving $1.64 million in relief funds, Kaeding used the money for personal gain, including preventing the foreclosure of his home, purchasing a vehicle, and accumulating more than $80,000 in cash. In early 2021, Kaeding fled to Colombia, but was eventually apprehended and deported back to the United States for prosecution.
A federal jury convicted him of wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and money laundering in August 2024.
