NEWARK, N.J. – An Atlantic County, New Jersey, construction company and one of its owners entered into a settlement agreement with the United States in which they admitted violating the False Claims Act by taking a loan from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) to which the company was not entitled, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced today.
According to admissions and the contentions of the United States contained in the settlement agreement:
Congress created the PPP in March 2020, as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, to provide emergency financial support to the millions of Americans suffering the economic effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The CARES Act authorized billions of dollars in forgivable loans to small businesses struggling to pay employees and other business expenses.
Christopher Construction Company Inc. (the “Company”) and one of its owners, Dennis Christopher, applied for and received a PPP loan totaling $255,507. Christopher, on behalf of the Company, falsely certified in the PPP application that neither the Company nor any individual owning 20 percent or more of its equity was subject to an indictment or other criminal charges. When he completed the application, however, Christopher knew that another owner of the Company was subject to a criminal indictment. Christopher’s false certification on the application caused a bank to approve a PPP loan and caused the Small Business Administration (SBA) to pay...
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