Alupress LLC, a company that manufactures automotive die casting components, has agreed to pay approximately $2.2 million to settle allegations that it improperly obtained a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan for which it was not eligible. The settlement was announced by U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo for the Western District of New York.
The PPP was established in March 2020 by Congress to provide emergency financial support to small businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The program offered forgivable loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA), but only to businesses that met certain eligibility requirements, including limits on the total number of employees, which counted those working for foreign affiliates as well.
According to the United States, Alupress received a forgiven PPP loan in 2021 despite exceeding these size restrictions. At the time of its application, Alupress was fully owned by Alupress Group, itself owned by Technicon—an Italian-based company with multiple subsidiaries worldwide. Combined, Technicon and its affiliates had more than 300 employees when Alupress applied for the loan, surpassing the program's employee limit.
“The Paycheck Protection Program was designed to support small business during the COVID-19 Pandemic,” said U.S. Attorney DiGiacomo. “This office continues to work tirelessly to recover taxpayer dollars that were improperly obtained when large companies, like Alupress, received loans by skirting the eligibility rules.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney David M. Coriell and USAO Investigator Margaret McFarland managed this case with help from the SBA’s Office of General Counsel.
The public is encouraged to report suspected fraud related to COVID-19 relief programs through the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via its online complaint form at https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.
Authorities noted that these are allegations only and there has been no determination of liability.
