Universal Environmental Services, LLC, the company that operates the oil re-refinery in Peachtree City, has agreed to pay $2.6 million to resolve federal allegations that it provided incorrect information while seeking forgiveness of a COVID-era Paycheck Protection Program loan.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia announced the civil settlement involving UES, a Peachtree City-based subsidiary of Avista Oil Group, which federal officials described as a large German conglomerate.
“When people provide false information to obtain government-backed loans, they break the law and misdirect resources away from those who need them,” U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg said. “Our office will continue to enforce the False Claims Act to recover such funds, plus penalties.”
The government’s investigation began after a whistleblower filed a complaint alleging that UES applied for a second-draw PPP loan in 2020.
Second-draw loans were limited to qualifying small businesses. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the program rules and loan application defined an eligible business as one with fewer than 300 employees, including employees throughout the applicant’s corporate family.
Federal officials alleged that UES reported having 287 employees on its loan application. That figure included only the company’s domestic employees and did not include employees from the broader Avista Oil Group corporate family, according to the release.
The entire corporate...
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