While the $525 billion Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), enacted as part of the CARES Act, has undoubtedly helped millions of deserving businesses survive the COVID-19 pandemic, it has also provided a unique opportunity for...more
Shortly after the Small Business Administration began accepting applications for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, two Rhode Island businessmen quickly applied for a combined $543,881 from the program. A few days...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission has signaled that it expects to see an uptick in fraudulent accounting activities in the wake of the financial downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. In a similar vein, the Financial...more
Price gouging was once thought of as a tool used only by the state attorney general to protect consumers from fraud during times of emergency.
But with the formation of the COVID-19 Hoarding and Price Gouging Task Force...more
COVID-19 has transformed the financial market, prompting increased oversight of insider trading. While not all insider trading is illegal, illegal insider trading refers to buying or selling a security, in breach of a...more
By taking swift legal action against a Utah man and two companies he controls for allegedly selling a fake cure for COVID-19, federal authorities signaled that they are on heightened alert for scams seeking to take unfair...more
Amid pandemic-fueled allegations of misconduct, New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal on May 5 asked for the public’s help with investigating alleged misconduct in residential care facilities and nursing homes during...more
Alleging that a Florida company fabricated a pair of press releases to create the false impression of having contracts to supply N95 masks to health care providers, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed suit seeking...more
Scrutiny of federal relief funds is expected to be intense as evidenced by the decisions of two prominent companies to quickly return loans they had secured under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) in the wake of criticism...more
Prices ordinarily fluctuate on the basis of supply and demand. But during a governmentally declared state of emergency, so-called “price gouging” laws can take effect, imposing controls on price increases for a variety of...more
Within two weeks of the declared state of emergency, NJ Attorney General Gurbir Grewal said the state had received about 1,500 consumer complaints of price gouging involving about 1,000 business locations. These led to more...more