RICHLAND, Wash. – BNL Technical Services, a Hanford Site subcontractor, pleaded guilty on Tue., Oct. 22 to fraudulently obtaining nearly $500,000 in a scheme to get COVID-19 relief funding.
A press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Washington says between 2020 and 2021, BNL was contracted to provide labor services to Hanford Site prime contractors. The labor costs continued to be paid by the Department of Energy during the pandemic, including in times when BNL employees were not physically working on site.
BNL got a loan for $493,865 from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) in April 2020 to mitigate economic impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic. PPP loans can also be forgiven if used for payroll or other eligible expenses.
However, BNL fraudulently sought out PPP funding for its employees despite pay and benefits already being covered by the DOE. BNL then transferred most the PPP funds and used them on unauthorized expenditures.
In Aug. 2021, BNL owner Wilson Pershing Stevenson III from Nashville, Tennessee requested and was given forgiveness for the loan by fraudulently certifying that the funding had been used on eligible expenses.
“These critical and limited COVID-19 funds were set aside to help small businesses stay afloat during a deadly pandemic,” said U.S. Attorney Vanessa Waldref. “BNL fraudulently obtained these funds and then illegally used the money for their own purpose. I’m proud of the work done by my Office’s COVID-19 Fraud Strike Force in this case. By holding fraudsters accountable, we are protecting small and local businesses that are so important to our community and economy.”
Stevenson also agreed to pay $1,105,498 in a civil settlement to resolve his individual liability. BNL’s sentencing is set for March 11, 2025 at 1:30 p.m. in Yakima.
The case was taken on by the U.S. Attorney’s Office COVID-19 Fraud Strike Force, which includes several federal law enforcement agencies dedicated to fighting COVID-19 relief fraud in Eastern Washington.
