The Miami-based marine safety equipment provider Viking Life-Saving Equipment (America) Inc. is settling up with the U.S. government to the tune of $3.86 million after a dust-up over allegations of fraudulently obtained funds through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). This settlement comes as the result of claims that Viking misrepresented their employee numbers to receive forgivable loans during the COVID-19 pandemic, designed to aid small businesses in keeping their workforce paid.
In the deal to settle these allegations, Viking has not admitted to any of the claimed wrongdoing. The allegations pointed to Viking applying for—and asking for forgiveness of—two PPP loans during the time period between April 24, 2020, and November 11, 2021. According to a statement announced by U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei, the firm faced accusations of making false certifications about their eligibility by not correctly reporting their staff count, taking into consideration its affiliate, which is against the SBA's affiliation rules.
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) had defined strict criteria for qualification under the PPP, including company size limits based on number of employees. Eligibility was capped at firms with fewer than 500 employees, unless industry-specific size standards stated otherwise. According to the allegations, Viking failed to properly include the total number of employees across all affiliates, which, under SBA affiliation rules, is necessary to accurately to assess PPP loan eligibility.
Despite the settlement, Viking Life-Saving Equipment (America) Inc., a subsidiary of the Danish-based Viking Life Savings Equipment A/S, was cooperative throughout the investigation. The company "fully responded to requests for information," aiding Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul B. Moore and SBA Attorney Amber Perez, who were the ones closely coordinating to scrutinize Viking’s PPP loan applications and subsequent forgiveness requests, as reported by the U.S. Attorney's Office.
