Companies with thousands of employees, sanctions after government investigations and risks of financial bankruptcy even before the coronavirus hit the economy, they were among those who received millions of dollars from a relief fund that the Congress created to help small companies to overcome the crisis, according to research by The Associated Press.
He was supposed to Salary Protection Program would fund small businesses, which generally have less access to fast cash and credit, with $ 349 billion in emergency loans They could help keep workers on the job and bills paid on time.
But The Associated Press found that at least 75 companies that received the aid were listed on the Bag, and some had market values higher than $ 100 million. And 25% of companies had warned investors months ago, as the economy advanced, that their ability to remain viable was in doubt.
In analyzing thousands of regulatory agency findings, the AP identified the 75 companies as recipients of $ 300 million in low-interest, taxpayer-backed loans.
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Eight companies, or their subsidiaries, received the maximum of $ 10 million, including a California software company that settled an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission late last year into accounting errors that inflated its earnings.
The eight companies that take out maximum loans are likely to be just one tip of the iceberg: statistics released last week by the US Small Business Administration. USA showed that 4,400 of the approved loans exceeded $ 5 million. Overall, the typical national loan size was $ 206,000, according to statistics. The SBA will forgive loans if companies meet certain benchmarks, like keeping employees on payroll for eight weeks.
The list of beneficiaries identified by AP is a fraction of the 1.6 million loans that lenders approved before the program ran out last week, but it is the most comprehensive public accounting to date. Neither the Trump administration nor the loan industry has disclosed a list of beneficiaries of the Salary Protection Program.
Representatives for the SBA, which oversees the program, did not respond to a request for comment Monday night. But last Friday, the Treasury secretary, Steven MnuchinHe said in a written statement that the majority of the loans, 74%, were for less than $ 150,000 and that demonstrated “the accessibility of this program to even the smallest small businesses.”
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