On Tuesday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Wisconsin said that a group of companies owned by a family office had agreed to pay more than $10.8 million to settle claims of false certifications related to Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans.
The U.S. attorney’s office says that the deal ends civil claims that four companies falsely said they were eligible for PPP loans, even though they had more employees than the program’s rules allowed.
The following companies were named by the department as being affiliated: The Club at Strawberry Creek LLC, The Garlands of Barrington LLC, Nuestro Queso, LLC, SSCO LLC, and Tire Profiles LLC.
The department said that four of these companies—The Club at Strawberry Creek LLC, The Garlands of Barrington LLC, Nuestro Queso, LLC, and Tire Profiles LLC—received six PPP loans worth a total of more than $5 million, even though they employ more than 500 people.
The department said that the rules for PPP eligibility usually only let businesses with 500 or fewer workers borrow money.
The government says these companies knew they were breaking the rule and took steps to keep regulators from finding out.
The companies agreed to pay $10,853,246.94 to settle the civil claims, the department verified.
“When Congress passed the Paycheck Protection Program, it made policy decisions about what kinds of businesses would and would not be able to get the pandemic aid that it provided,” said Richard G. Frohling, who is the acting U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin.
“The eight-figure settlement announced today shows that the Small Business Administration and the Department of Justice are still determined to hold large companies responsible for abusing this emergency program.”
The U.S. attorney’s office says that the deal does not include an admission of guilt.
