BNL Technical Services, LLC (BNL), a company based in Richland, pleaded guilty to illegally collecting $493,865 in COVID-19 relief money as part of a conspiracy, the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Washington announced Tuesday.
The company’s owner, Wilson Pershing Stevenson III of Nashville, Tennessee, has agreed to pay $1,105,498 as part of a civil settlement to resolve his personal accountability for BNL’s receipt of the relief monies, according to the department.
According to court records, between 2020 and 2021, BNL offered contract labor services to Hanford Site prime contractors, with the Department of Energy (DOE) covering their labor costs and wages, even when staff were teleworking or in “ready” mode at home during the pandemic.
According to the records provided during the proceedings, BNL sought for and received a $493,865 loan from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) in April 2020.
Court records also show that BNL unlawfully secured PPP financing for employees whose salary and benefits were already covered by DOE contract monies and other federal sources, such as the Veterans Administration, and then spent more than $424,230 of the PPP revenues on improper expenses.
Furthermore, court records show that in August 2021, BNL, through its owner, Wilson Pershing Stevenson III, requested and got loan forgiveness by falsely stating that the PPP loan was used for authorized business expenses from April to October 2020.
“We set aside these vital and limited COVID-19 monies to help small companies survive a devastating pandemic.” BNL got these assets fraudulently and then criminally exploited them for their own benefit,” said Vanessa R. Waldref, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington, in a statement.
“By holding fraudsters accountable, we are protecting small and local businesses that are so important to our community and economy.”
