RIGHT SPEAK: Detroit Club Owners Pay $358K Settlement to Resolve PPP Allegations; El Paso Businesswoman Accused in $2.3 Million Fraud of COVID-19 Relief PPP Funds, and other C-Virus related stories

Detroit Club owners pay $358K settlement to resolve PPP allegations:

Owners of The Detroit Club have agreed to pay $357,699 to settle fraud allegations involving the federal Paycheck Protection Program during the early years of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Acting U.S. Attorney Julie Beck on Wednesday announced the civil settlement, which resolves allegations that the downtown club's owners and operators, including Lynn Kassotis and Emre Uralli, violated the False Claims Act when seeking forgiveness for the club's two PPP loans in 2020 and 2021 that totaled just under $760,000.

The U.S. government contends that the pair spent some of the money on things that weren't eligible for loan forgiveness under the PPP program, specifically $167,040 for building lease expenses.

The settlement also resolves allegations in a whistleblower lawsuit brought in 2023 by a former Detroit Club bookkeeper and personal assistant to Lynn Kassotis and Emre Uralli that raised allegations of possible PPP misuse.

That lawsuit, which was recently unsealed, claimed the Detroit Club's PPP applications were filled out as if the loan funds would be used to pay 53 employees on payroll, even though the club had just two to five employees at the time.

According to a U.S. Attorney's office news release, the whistleblower, Benjamin Decker, will receive about $71,500 from the settlement.

Kassotis and Uralli could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday afternoon through the Detroit Club's phone line. --->READ MORE HERE

Getty Images

El Paso businesswoman accused in $2.3 million fraud of COVID-19 relief PPP funds:

An El Paso business owner who advertised her services to apply for the Paycheck Protection Program was arrested by federal agents this month for allegedly defrauding the COVID-19 pandemic relief program of more than $2.3 million.

Araceli Benitez, 46, was arrested March 6 on a multi-count bank and wire fraud indictment as part of an investigation by the FBI and Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations. If convicted, she could face up to 30 years in prison, prosecutors said.

Benitez's attorney with the federal public defender's office did not respond to a request for comment.

The arrest nearly took place on the fifth anniversary of the global declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas in a statement said Benitez was the owner of a local insurance and tax services company as well as a home health services company. She advertised on paid radio spots and social media, usually in Spanish, to attract clients that she helped apply for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans.

Benitez's companies were not named in the federal grand jury indictment issued on Jan. 22.

The indictment accused Benitez of "fraudulently" representing the legality of her services and "misrepresenting" facts about the PPP regarding clients' eligibility for the loans. Benitez is also accused of misrepresenting and concealing the true financial condition of clients on fraudulent loan applications, where otherwise they would not have qualified for the program. --->READ MORE HERE