On April 3, 2023, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey announced a settlement with a public relations firm to resolve allegations that the New Jersey company violated the False Claims Act (FCA) by receiving a $2 million second-draw loan from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) to which the company was not entitled. The public relations firm had also sought and received forgiveness for the full amount of the loan.
Congress created the PPP as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act to provide emergency financial support to qualifying small businesses affected by the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic. The CARES Act was subsequently amended to provide for a second round of disaster funding, but applicants were ineligible for this second-draw funding if the applicant was a required registrant under the Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA).
Here, the FCA action was initiated in New Jersey when a relator filed a qui tam suit alleging that the public relations firm was the agency of record (AOR) for foreign tourism offices such as the Cayman Islands Department of Tourism. As alleged in the complaint, these foreign tourism offices are “foreign principals” within the meaning of FARA, which meant that the public relations firm was an “agent of a foreign principal” and was therefore required under FARA to submit a registration statement. As a result, the public relations firm was allegedly ineligible for the second $2 million...
A short video circulating widely on social media claims that US Representative Ilhan Omar referred to World War II as “World War 11” while discussing the Alien Enemies Act. The clip has been share...