Qantas Charged Record-Breaking $58 Million Fine for Illegal Firings During COVID Pandemic; La Mirada Man Sentenced to Nearly 4 Years for $12 Million COVID Loan Fraud Scheme, and other C-Virus related stories

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Qantas Charged Record-Breaking $58 Million Fine for Illegal Firings During COVID Pandemic:

Australian carrier Qantas will have to pay a historic fine for mishandling hundreds of layoffs during the height of the covid-19 pandemic, according to a court ruling on Monday.

On August 18, an Australian federal court ordered the airline to pay a whopping $90 million AUD (about $58 million USD) for illegally laying off 1,820 ground crew in 2020. The fine is the largest-ever levied by a court against a company in the history of Australia’s labor laws, according to Reuters.

Australian Federal Court Judge Michael Lee said the fine was about 75% of the maximum amount he could have levied.

The majority of the fine—about $50 million AUD—will be paid to the Transport Workers' Union, the organization representing the ground staff that originally brought the suit against Qantas. "This record-breaking penalty reflects the monumental scale of Qantas’ wrongdoing," said Josh Bornstein, a principal at Maurice Blackburn Lawyers, which represented the union in the lawsuit. Back in 2020, the carrier decided to lay off their employees and outsource its ground staff work to contractors. --->READ MORE HERE

La Mirada Man Sentenced to Nearly 4 Years for $12 Million COVID Loan Fraud Scheme:

A local man, Abraham Park, 67, was sentenced to 46 months in prison on Thursday for orchestrating a massive fraud scheme that cost the Small Business Administration (SBA) nearly $7 million through the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program. Park, a La Mirada resident and CEO of a California financial services company, was also ordered to pay $6,993,700 in restitution and $535,041 in forfeiture for his role in the scam.

According to court documents, between March 2020 and October 2022, Park submitted over 120 fraudulent EIDL loan applications on behalf of himself, family members, and clients. He allegedly instructed clients to create fake corporate entities to secure these loans, which were intended to help businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. In exchange, Park received kickbacks from the funded loans. Of the applications, 73 were approved, leading to a total loss of over $12 million, including funded and unfunded loans.

Park pleaded guilty on March 20 to one count each of wire fraud and money laundering. The case was investigated by the IRS Criminal Investigation Los Angeles Field Office, the FBI Los Angeles Field Office, and the SBA Office of Inspector General. The prosecution was handled by Trial Attorneys Brandon Burkart and Andrew Jaco of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division Fraud Section. --->READ MORE HERE

Follow links below to relevant/related stories and resources:

Covid is rising. New vaccines may not be ready until mid-September.

Qantas fined $59M for illegal pandemic layoffs

USA TODAY: Coronavirus Updates

WSJ: Coronavirus Live Updates

YAHOO NEWS: Coronavirus Live Updates

NEW YORK POST: Coronavirus The Latest

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