Morris County Company Settles Matter Alleging it Received Improper Paycheck Protection Program Loan

NEWARK, N.J. - A Morris County tour company entered into a settlement agreement with the United States resolving allegations that the company violated the False Claims Act by applying for and receiving two loans from the Paycheck Protection Program ("PPP") for which the company was not eligible, Senior Counsel Philip Lamparello announced today.

According to the allegations in the complaint and the contentions of the United States contained in the settlement agreement:

Congress created the PPP in March 2020, as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, to provide emergency financial support to the millions of Americans suffering the economic effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The CARES Act authorized billions of dollars in forgivable loans to small businesses struggling to pay employees and other business expenses.

CIE Tours International Inc. ("CIE Tours") applied for and received two PPP loans totaling $3,410,300 even though it was ineligible for the loans as an entity owned by the government of Ireland, and because it exceeded the employee size eligibility requirements. CIE Tours then sought and received forgiveness of the total amount of the loans.

CIE Tours fully cooperated in the investigation and resolution of this matter. In accordance with the terms of the settlement CIE Tours agrees to pay the United States $4,428,985.04. The settlement resolves a lawsuit filed under the whistleblower provision of the False Claims Act, which permits private parties, called relators, to file suit on behalf of the United States for false claims and share in a portion of the government's recovery. In this matter, Relator is receiving $428,985 as his share in the recovery.

Senior Counsel Lamparello credits the SBA's Office of General Counsel for their assistance in this matter.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney David E. Dauenheimer of the Healthcare Fraud and Opioids Enforcement Unit in Newark.

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice's National Center for Disaster Fraud Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

The qui tam case is captioned US ex rel. TZAC, Inc., v. CIE TOURS INTERNATIONAL, 24-cv-009637 (D.N.J.).

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Counsel for CIE Tours: Reetuparna Dutta, Hodgson Russ, LLP, Buffalo, New York.

Relator's counsel: David Abrams, Esq., New York, New York.