A Philadelphia man, Tracy Hardy, 52, has pled guilty to wire fraud and making false claims, admitting his involvement in schemes to defraud pandemic relief programs and a local union chapter. Hardy, owner of several businesses, was involved in fraudulent activities aimed at obtaining over $2 million in relief funds from the Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loan program, claiming inflated wages and false employee numbers among other falsities, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
In a court hearing before United States District Judge Harvey Bartle III, Hardy confessed to collaborating with an individual, referred to as Person #1 in court documents, who assisted in preparing and submitting fraudulent loan applications citing incorrect financial details about Hardy's companies from May 2020 to May 2022; this resulted, for which he provided falsified tax documents and payroll summaries, which allowed him to secure a substantial amount of financial aid intended to help businesses weather the storm brought forth by the pandemic. Hardy also deceived District 1199C, a National Union of Hospital and Healthcare Employees chapter, by submitting altered and fabricated bids for a construction project in 2019, pocketing extra funds in the process.
The deception extended to Hardy’s interaction with District 1199C when he was seeking a contract for a renovation project in early 2019, he submitted several bids including an inflated bid from his construction company, Manayunk Construction & Development Corporation, to the union's officer, Person #5, the falsely low bid ultimately won him the contract, and in turn, garnered him a payment that was fraudulently overstated by at least $45,000, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), alongside the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General, carried out the investigation leading up to Hardy's prosecution by Assistant United States Attorney Louis D. Lappen.
While the specifics of Hardy’s sentencing have not been made public as of yet, the guilty plea signals a close to the legal proceedings that have been charted by multiple governmental agencies, including the Small Business Administration and FBI. Further information on the case and the implications of Hardy's actions is expected to be released following the scheduling of his sentencing, as detailed in the court documents.
