Four companies and their three owners have agreed to pay $2.65 million to settle claims of fraudulently obtaining Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas announced the settlement involving luxury home builders Carnegie Homes & Construction LLC, Signature Collection Inc., and consulting firms The Everstone Group and The Mosaic Group LLC.
Owners Ram Gupta (Carnegie), Arpan Gupta (Signature), and Sapna Patel (Everstone and Mosaic) allegedly submitted loan applications with inflated payroll figures and misrepresented employee numbers, misleading authorities on the intended use of funds.
The settlement stems from a whistleblower complaint filed in October 2021 and investigated under the False Claims Act by the SBA Office of Inspector General (SBA-OIG). The companies did not admit wrongdoing but agreed to pay the settlement…