RICHLAND, Wash.-A Kennewick business owner has agreed to pay $107,534 to settle claims of COVID relief fraud.
The civil settlement was announced by the Eastern Washington COVID-19 Fraud Strike Force, which was launched by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in 2022 to investigate COVID relief funding fraud.
“The Strike Force works to ensure that limited resources are used to protect our local small businesses and the critical jobs and services that they provide for the community,” said Vanessa Waldref, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington.
Under the settlement Benjamin D. Castilla, the owner of Columbia Basin Netwerks, a Kennewick-based IT service, admitted that he received Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) funding for his business.
According to a press release announcing the settlement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Castilla admitted that, while he used some of the funding he received for legitimate business purposes, he also used $107,534 to purchase a recreational vehicle (RV) for his personal use.
Castilla also agreed to timely repay all of the CARES Act loan funding that he received.
