Two people from Columbia County accused of defrauding the federal Payment Protection Program appeared before a judge on Friday.
Darryl Corrandini and Vicki Hackenberg are accused of creating a fake company and filing for PPP loans to pay their non-existent employees.
The federal program is meant to help small businesses struggling during the pandemic.
While walking into federal court on Friday morning, Corrandini told Newswatch 16 that he and Hackenberg are innocent and that this crime is being "pinned" on them.
"It was a complete scam. We got involved with an online scammer. You know you have to be careful out there. To anybody that are out there, watch your online people," said Corrandini.
According to the IRS, the pair received nearly $300,000, which they used to buy the cryptocurrency Bitcoin for themselves.