RelyOn Nutec Agrees to Pay $2.3 Million to Resolve Allegations of PPP Loan Fraud

BOSTON - RelyOn Nutec USA LLC (RelyOn), a company headquartered in Houma, La., has agreed to pay $2,389,213 to resolve allegations that it fraudulently obtained a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan for which it was ineligible.

Congress enacted the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and the Economic Security Act (CARES Act) on March 29, 2020, to provide emergency financial assistance to the millions of Americans who were suffering the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The CARES Act authorized forgivable loans to small businesses for job retention and certain approved expenses through the PPP, which the Small Business Administration (SBA) administered. The PPP provided for loans in two "draws"-first draw loans became available in March 2020, with a second draw announced in January 2021. To be eligible for PPP loans, businesses were required to certify on their loan applications that they met certain size standards based on, for example, the number of employees they, and their affiliated entities, collectively employed. In determining number of employees, businesses generally were required to count all employees of U.S. and foreign affiliates. Businesses with more than 300 employees were not eligible for second draw loans.

As part of the settlement, RelyOn admitted that, in January 2021, it received a $1,279,707 second draw PPP loan. RelyOn certified that it was eligible for the loan under the PPP regulations in effect at the time of the application and represented that it had 99 employees, including affiliates' employees. RelyOn later sought and received forgiveness of the full amount of that loan. When it applied for the loan and when it applied for forgiveness, RelyOn did not qualify for the loan because it had more than 300 employees, when considering employees of its affiliates. Prior to 2021 and through 2022, RelyOn was a wholly owned subsidiary of RelyOn Nutec Holding A/S Denmark (RelyOn Denmark), a global company based in Denmark. When it applied for the second draw loan and when it applied for forgiveness, RelyOn had more than 300 employees, when considering employees of its foreign affiliates.

United States Attorney Leah B. Foley and the U.S. Small Business Administration made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Julien M. Mundele of the Affirmative Civil Enforcement Unit handled the matter.