A Bergen County construction company has admitted that it illegally obtained $2 million in COVID-19 business relief funds by lying about the number of its employees, federal prosecutors announced Monday.
Ulma Form Works, Inc., of Fair Lawn, entered into a settlement agreement with the federal government to pay the funds back in order to resolve a lawsuit, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office District of New Jersey.
In January 2021, Ulma, which manufactures and supplies concrete formwork, applied for and received a $2 million Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan, the office said.
Businesses with more than 300 employees were not eligible for PPP loans at the time and in its loan application, Ulma claimed eligibility by stating it employed fewer than that total, investigators said. However, the business did, in fact, have more than 300 employees.
After receiving the loan, Ulma sought and received forgiveness of the total amount of the loan, plus interest that had accrued, authorities said.
Ulma fully cooperated in the investigation and agreed to pay the United States $2,902,795, the office said.
The settlement resolves a lawsuit filed under the whistleblower provision of the False Claims Act, which permits private parties, called relators, to file suit on behalf of the United States for false claims, officials said.
Relators then get a share of the government’s recovery, the office said. In this case, the relator received $290,279.
A Bergen County construction company has admitted that it illegally obtained $2 million in COVID-19 business relief funds by lying about the number of its employees, federal prosecutors announced M...