California Electrical Contractor Unable to Stop PPP Fraud Suit

A whistleblower can move forward with a False Claims Act suit alleging that California-based Elcor Electric Inc. misrepresented its employee count to get an $8 million Paycheck Protection Program loan from the US government during the Covid-19 pandemic, a federal court said.

Elcor didn’t show that Relator LLC’s suit is precluded by the FCA’s public disclosure bar, which disallows claims with allegations that are substantially the same as allegations disclosed by news media, government reports, and other sources, Judge William H. Orrick of the US District Court for the Northern District of California said. The websites Elcor identified in its ...