Staff report
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Today the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Florida, announced that Mac C. Johnson and a company he owned and operated, Mac Johnson & Sons Dumpster, Crane & Demolition, LLC, have agreed to pay $100,000 to settle allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by knowingly providing false information in support of a Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) loan application.
In 2019, Johnson was sentenced to one year and a day in prison after pleading guilty to tax fraud, wire fraud, structuring financial transactions to evade reporting requirements, and harboring undocumented aliens.
Following his conviction, the U.S. Attorney alleges, Johnson knowingly submitted false claims to the U.S. Small Business Administration (“SBA”) in support of a PPP loan made to Defendant Mac Johnson & Sons Dumpster, Crane & Demolition, LLC. Specifically, in the April 2020 loan application, Johnson failed to report that the owner of the company had been convicted of a felony within the prior five years. Knowing that his company was ineligible to participate in the PPP, the release stated, Johnson used false information to secure a loan for $48,514.
“This settlement, which is more than twice the fraudulently obtained amount, reflects the diligence and determination we will use to pursue businesses who defraud the government,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Michelle Spaven. “Here, a defendant who was punished for fraud and harboring aliens...
A Guatemalan national residing in the U.S. illegally has been indicted for his alleged role in smuggling a 14-year-old girl into the country. Juan Tiul Xi, 26, was indicted on Thursday for alleged...