A Monterey chef has been indicted for alleged fraud involving COVID relief funds, the U.S. Department of Justice said.

The grand jury indictment, announced Jan. 25, charged Dory Ford, 57, with bank and wire fraud along with money laundering.

Ford operated an established catering company called Aqua Terra Culinary Inc. in Pacific Grove.

During the pandemic, Ford applied for and received about $4 million in loans and grants from the Paycheck Protection Program, the Restaurant Revitalization Fund and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program. These plans either awarded or loaned funding to restaurants, bars and similar businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic or other disasters.

A partial screenshot of Dory Ford’s LinkedIn page taken Jan. 29, 2024, lists him as the founder of MycoSci, a business that makes mushroom-based health products. The U.S. Department of Justice claims Ford ran his company with funds fraudulently obtained through pandemic relief loans. (Image via LinkedIn)

Ford is accused of getting millions of dollars in these funds by using false and fraudulent “representations, promises, and omissions” and of concealing material facts.

Prosecutors allege that Ford used COVID-19 loan and grant money to buy properties in Belize, to invest in the stock market, and to fund a different business venture instead of using the money to for proper expenses, such as payroll, rent or mortgage payments, and supplies.

According to Ford’s LinkedIn page, in 2021 the chef started a business around mushrooms.

“Although the pandemic had an impact on the hospitality industry, Dory used this opportunity to create MycoSci,” reads the post. MycoSci “cultivates, creates and tests the highest quality health and wellness supplements grounded in the incredible power of mushrooms.”

If convicted, Ford is facing a maximum sentence of 30 years in federal prison and a fine of $1 million for bank fraud, 60 years in prison and a fine of $750,000 for three counts of wire fraud, and a maximum of 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 for two counts of money laundering.

Ford is next scheduled to appear in court on Jan. 31.

Katy St. Clair got her start in journalism by working in the classifieds department at the East Bay Express during the height of alt weeklies, then sweet talked her way into becoming staff writer, submissions editor, and music editor. She has been a columnist in the East Bay Express, SF Weekly, and the San Francisco Examiner. Starting in 2015, she begrudgingly scaled the inverted pyramid at dailies such as the Vallejo Times-Herald, The Vacaville Reporter, and the Daily Republic. She has her own independent news site and blog that covers the delightfully dysfunctional town of Vallejo, California, where she also collaborates with the investigative team at Open Vallejo. A passionate advocate for people with developmental disabilities, she serves on both the Board of the Arc of Solano and the Arc of California. She lives in Vallejo.