Nikon SLM Solutions Agrees to Pay $1.37 Million to Resolve False Claims Act Allegations Relating to Paycheck Protection Program Loans

Wilmington, Delaware–U.S. Attorney Benjamin L. Wallace announced today that Nikon SLM Solutions NA, Inc. (“SLM”) agreed to pay more than $1.3 million to resolve allegations that it improperly obtained a Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) loan from the U.S. Small Business Administration (“SBA”) for which it was not eligible.

PPP was an emergency loan program established by Congress in March 2020 under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act and administered by the SBA.  It was created to support small businesses and ensure that they could continue to pay employees and meet other business expenses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Whether an applicant qualified as a small business was determined, in part, by assessing the number of employees of the business, including any domestic and foreign affiliates.  In early 2021, Congress authorized a second tranche of loans, referred to as second draw loans, that were available under more restrictive eligibility rules to certain small businesses that had already obtained a first draw loan.

SLM is a subsidiary of a global provider of integrated metal additive manufacturing solutions, headquartered in Lübeck, Germany.  The United States contends that SLM obtained a PPP loan that it was not eligible for because it exceeded the size requirements for a second draw PPP loan.  Specifically, SLM was ineligible for the PPP loan because it, together with its foreign affiliates, had over 300 employees.  After the conduct that was the subject of the United States’ investigation, SLM’s parent company was acquired by Nikon Corporation, the publicly listed Japanese company.

“PPP was established to provide necessary support for American small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said U.S. Attorney Wallace.  “When larger, international companies sought and obtained those loans, they frustrated the purpose of the program and deprived qualifying small businesses of much needed funds to keep American workers employed.  Our office will continue to investigate and aggressively seek to recover funds that were obtained from the Paycheck Protection Program by ineligible borrowers.”

The civil settlement includes the resolution of claims brought under the qui tam or whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act.  Under those provisions, a private party—known as a relator—can file an action on behalf of the United States and receive a portion of any recovery.  The qui tam case is captioned United States ex rel. Verity Investigations, LLC v. Nikon SLM Solutions NA, Inc., 25-cv-103-CFC (D. Del.).  The relator will receive a share of the settlement.

This matter was handled by Civil Chief Dylan J. Steinberg.

Individuals with information about allegations of fraud involving COVID-19 are encouraged to report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only.  There has been no determination of liability.

A copy of this press release and the settlement agreement are located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Delaware.