On Tuesday, January 12, 2021, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California announced the first, and long-anticipated, civil settlement resolving allegations of fraud involving the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Up until last week, PPP enforcement primarily involved egregious criminal matters resulting from brazen, “low-hanging fruit” violations, but Brigham Taylor and SlideBelts, Inc.Read More
The COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States in 2020 and Congress responded with legislation to provide a variety of forms of relief to small and large businesses and nonprofits, as well as individuals. In addition to providing relief under vehicles such as the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL),Read More
Leo Tolstoy famously began his 1877 novel Anna Karenina with the observation, “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” Much the same could be said of government contractors that find themselves in hot water relating to false claims. Two recent settlements by government contractors remind us that thereRead More
On July 28, 2020, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued a Management Alert raising concerns of potential fraud relating to the Small Business Administration (SBA) Economic Injury Disaster Loan and Advance grant programs. The OIG reported receiving more than 5,000 complaints of suspected incidents of fraud from financial institutions that had received the economicRead More
On July 14, 2020, the Federal Acquisition Regulatory (FAR) Council issued an interim final rule intended to clarify the scope and application of the requirements set forth in Section 889(a)(1)(B) of the FY2019 National Defense Authorization Act (FY19 NDAA). The rule’s release comes after months of eager anticipation by—and almost apocalyptic warnings from—a wide varietyRead More
