BVK, Inc., a public relations firm, will pay $2.25 million to settle allegations that it wrongfully received a second loan from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). The case was brought by a whistleblower under the False Claims Act’s qui tam provisions.
The qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act enable private citizens to file lawsuits on behalf of the government if they know of an individual or company defrauding the government. Qui tam whistleblowers are eligible to receive between 15 and 30% of the government’s recovery, if one occurs.
The PPP was established with the passage of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act to aid small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. “Under the PPP, eligible businesses could receive loans guaranteed by the [Small Business Administration (SBA)] and, if the business spent the loan proceeds on qualified expenses, SBA would repay the loan on the borrower’s behalf,” the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) press release states.
According to the DOJ, in December 2020 Congress authorized certain recipients of a previous PPP loan “to obtain an additional ‘second-draw’ loan.” These loans “included additional eligibility requirements, including a rule that any organization required to register with the Attorney General under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (“FARA”) was not permitted to receive a second-draw loan. A FARA registration obligation is triggered by certain work performed on behalf of foreign...
KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has opened an investigation paper against an individual suspected of uploading false content on TikTok involving the Mal...