Sunday 22 May 2022 11:49 PM Power Rangers star Jason Lawrence Geiger, 47, is busted for $3.5m COVID-19 ... trends now
A Texan actor who played the red Power Ranger in the 1990s TV series and films has been arrested and charged with fraudulently obtaining COVID-19 relief loans.
Jason Lawrence Geiger, 47, starred in the films under the stage name Austin St. John.
He was arrested on Tuesday, and remains in jail awaiting a hearing in Plano on Monday.
Geiger was one of 19 people charged for participating in the scam, which saw $3.5 million fraudulently obtained.
The scheme was ran by Michael Hill aka 'Tank,' 47, and Andrew Moran, 43.
The two ringleaders recruited others to use 'an existing business or create a business' to apply for the loans, part of the $349 billion federal CARES Act, designed to help struggling businesses during the pandemic.
Jason Lawrence Geiger, 47, starred in the Power Rangers films and TV series under the stage name Austin St. John. He was arrested on Tuesday and charged with COVID loan fraud
Geiger was one of 19 people arrested for their role in the $3.5 million scam
Geiger (far left) is seen with the other original Power Rangers - from left: Walter Jones, Jason David Frank, and David Yost, at the premiere of the 2017 Power Rangers film
Geiger in action as the 90s hero Power Ranger. He now faces up to 20 years in jail for fraud
Those in the network obtained the pandemic relief fund and paid Hill and Moran, or used the money for themselves.
In some instances those accused sent the money to Jonathan Spencer, 33, to invest in foreign exchange markets, prosecutors said.
Geiger
