Four companies and three of their owners have agreed to pay $2.65 million to resolve allegations that they submitted false claims for loans under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), according to an announcement from U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei.
The companies involved are Carnegie Homes & Construction LLC, Signature Collection Inc. (also operating as Fifty Seventh & 7TH Luxury Homes), The Everstone Group, and The Mosaic Group LLC. Ram Gupta owns Carnegie, Arpan Gupta owns Signature, and Sapna Patel is the director and sole member of Everstone as well as the owner of Mosaic.
A Houston-area realtor filed a whistleblower lawsuit in October 2021 under the False Claims Act, which led to this civil settlement. The allegations state that Ram Gupta, Arpan Gupta, and Sapna Patel applied for PPP loans by falsely reporting payroll costs, misrepresenting employee numbers, and falsifying loan purposes. They also allegedly submitted false information to justify loan forgiveness.
“Those who misuse federal programs to falsely obtain public funds are stealing from the American people,” said Ganjei. “This settlement reflects our commitment to recovering ill-gotten gains and vindicating the interests of the taxpayer.”
Acting Special Agent in Charge Michelle Blank of SBA-Office of Inspector General added: “The Small Business Administration’s pandemic relief programs were created to help legitimate small businesses keep employees on the payroll during an unprecedented crisis, not to be exploited through false claims. This $2.65 million settlement underscores that misuse of PPP funds will be pursued, and SBA-OIG will continue working with the Department of Justice and our law enforcement partners to protect taxpayer dollars and safeguard the integrity of SBA programs.”
Under the False Claims Act, private individuals can file complaints on behalf of the United States government and may receive a share of any recovered funds.
The Small Business Administration Office of Inspector General conducted the investigation, while Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill O. Venezia handled legal matters related to this case.
Authorities clarified that these are allegations only; there has been no determination of liability.
