The US Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Mississippi is leading the way when it comes to the government’s use of the False Claims Act to target alleged Paycheck Protection Program fraud.
Oxford, Miss.-based federal prosecutor Clay Joyner has brought more than 80% of the government’s known civil suits seeking to recoup money to which his office asserts some borrowers weren’t entitled, suing an auto mechanic, a baby sitting service, and a landscaper, and obtaining consent judgments from a trucking company and a jeweler.
“While we cannot speak for what other US Attorney’s offices will be doing, our filings are in direct response to trends and issues we have observed during investigations within our district,” Assistant US Attorney Stuart Davis, one of Joyner’s deputies, told Bloomberg Law. Joyner has led the office in an acting capacity since March 2021.
Congress enacted the PPP in March 2020 to provide emergency financial support to those suffering the economic effects caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. The program, under which loans were backed by Small Business Administration, ended in May 2021 after providing small business applicants around $800 billion.
The US has since filed more than a dozen complaints alleging that some of those applicants violated the FCA by misrepresenting their business’ payroll and other needs in order to receive funds.
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