Puig USA, Inc. and Carolina Herrera, Ltd., both located in New York, have agreed to jointly pay $6.7 million

Summary

A press release from USAO - Virginia, Eastern, published April 4, 2025, announcing that Puig USA and Carolina Herrera, both located in New York, agreed to jointly pay $6.7 million to settle civil fraud allegations involving second-draw Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans. Puig USA received a second-draw loan of $1,689,007 and Carolina Herrera received one of $2,000,000. The release says eligibility required employing fewer than 300 people at the time of application, and that the companies, both owned by Puig Brands, S.A., had 5,213 employees at the end of 2019 and 4,785 at the end of 2020. The settlement began with a False Claims Act whistleblower lawsuit, and the whistleblower will receive a 10-percent share. The release says the claims are allegations only, with no determination of civil liability.

Summary drafted by a model from the document's text below and checked by script against that text before publication. It is a navigation aid, not a reading of what the document proves. Where AI is used

Cite this document

“Puig USA, Inc. and Carolina Herrera, Ltd., both located in New York, have agreed to jointly pay $6.7 million.” Original at www.justice.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/2025-04-04-fashion-and-beauty-companies-agree-to-pay-6-7m-to-settle-fa-238fc242e3/, SHA-256 9f8ce6583e99cfa26eaeb4f0f40cc33a01ea22fe7fd01587e003eba716406eaf.

Full text

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Puig USA, Inc. and Carolina Herrera, Ltd., both located in New York, have agreed to jointly pay $6.7 million to settle civil fraud allegations involving second-draw Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans. PPP loans were made possible by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.
Puig USA, Inc. received a second-draw PPP loan of $1,689,007 and Carolina Herrera received a second-draw PPP loan of $2,000,000. An entity could be eligible for a second-draw PPP loan if, among other requirements, the entity, including its international affiliates, employed fewer than 300 people at the time of application. Carolina Herrera, Ltd. and Puig USA, Inc., both owned by Puig Brands, S.A., had 5,213 employees at the end of 2019 and 4,785 employees at the end of 2020.
The resolutions obtained in this matter were the result of a coordinated effort between the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia and the Small Business Administration.
The matter was investigated by former Assistant U.S. Attorney Gina H. Kim.
The settlement began with a lawsuit,
United States ex rel. GNGH2 Inc. v. Carolina Herrera, Ltd. et al.,
that was filed under the whistleblower provision of the False Claims Act, which permits private parties to file suit on behalf of the United States for false claims and share in a portion of the government’s recovery. The whistleblower will receive a 10-percent share of the settlement.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the
U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia
.  Case records may be found on
PACER
under case number 1:24-cv-1856.
The civil claims settled are allegations only; there has been no determination of civil liability.

File and source

File: 2025-04-04_fashion-and-beauty-companies-agree-to-pay-6-7m-to-settle-false-claims-ac_4746d83b.md.txt
Size: 1,758 bytes
SHA-256: 9f8ce6583e99cfa26eaeb4f0f40cc33a01ea22fe7fd01587e003eba716406eaf
Our copy: 2025-04-04_fashion-and-beauty-companies-agree-to-pay-6-7m-to-settle-false-claims-ac_4746d83b.md.txt
Original: www.justice.gov