CoreLife Eatery, a fast-casual restaurant chain with locations in New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, and Kentucky, will pay $7.8 million to settle allegations of pandemic relief fraud. Federal officials announced Monday that CoreLife admitted to falsely claiming it was eligible for a Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF) grant.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said the company violated the False Claims Act by misrepresenting the size of its operations to qualify for federal funding.

CoreLife falsely certified eligibility for federal relief

The Restaurant Revitalization Fund, created under the American Rescue Plan Act in 2021, aimed to help small businesses recover from the COVID-19 economic downturn. Businesses with more than 20 locations as of March 13, 2020, were not eligible for RRF grants.

CoreLife, however, owned and operated 29 locations by that date. Despite this, the company submitted an application in May 2021, falsely certifying that it met the eligibility requirement. The application explicitly asked whether the applicant had more than 20 locations, and CoreLife’s managing member answered “no.” He also initialed next to a statement confirming compliance.

“This company diverted critical relief funds from eligible recipients and eroded public trust in vital pandemic programs,” U.S. Attorney John A. Sarcone III said in a statement.

Settlement includes whistleblower award

The case began when a private individual filed a whistleblower lawsuit under the False Claims...

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