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Violation Tracker Individual Record

Company: Mendota Land Co. et al.
Penalty: $600,000
Year: 2023
Date: January 9, 2023
Offense Group: government-contracting-related offenses
Primary Offense: False Claims Act and related
Violation Description: Four California agricultural companies and their owner agreed to settle allegations that they violated the False Claims Act (FCA) and the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act (FIRREA) by knowingly submitting false information in support of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan applications. Mendota Land Co., Sweetwood Farm Co. LLC, Sweetwood Farm Inc., Seasholtz Co. LLC, and their owner John Seasholtz (collectively, Seasholtz) are alleged to have improperly inflated the employee headcount on the companies' PPP loan applications by impermissibly including non-employee contract workers who were, in fact, employed by other, unrelated entities. The settlement resolves allegations that the inclusion of non-employees caused Seasholtz to receive approximately $1.8 million in excess PPP funds. Seasholtz previously repaid the excess PPP loan funds to the lender, thereby relieving the U.S. Small Business Administration of liability for approximately $1.8 million in loan guarantees. As a part of the settlement, Seasholtz agreed to pay approximately $400,000 in damages and penalties under the FCA and approximately $200,000 in civil penalties under FIRREA.
Level of Government: federal
Action Type: agency action
Agency: Justice Department Civil Division
Civil or Criminal Case: civil
Facility State: California
Source of Data: (click here)
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Current parent company note: Parent-subsidiary relationship is current as of the most recent revision listed in the Update Log.