Ronald Hoplamazian, a Pennsylvania businessman who runs consulting firm Eclipse Capital Partners, has agreed to a $3.2 million settlement over allegations of misusing Economic Injury Disaster Loan funds—a case that sheds light on the fraudulent activities that have emerged in the aftermath of pandemic relief efforts.
According to U.S. Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero, this payment is intended to remedy his alleged False Claims Act offenses.
Hoplamazian, whose company received an EIDL for $1.9 million under the guise of using it as capital to mitigate COVID-19 economic damages, reportedly channeled the majority of that cash into a personal investment account, a stark departure from the intended purpose of the loan that landed him in this legal bind. The claimed utilization of these funds promised for purposes of business recovery was in stark contrast to his actions.
During the administrative uproar, U.S. Attorney Romero emphasized the gravity of misusing government programs: “Hoplamazian instead allegedly used the EIDL proceeds for an entirely different purpose—to make personal investments—a purpose he knew to be inconsistent with the rules of the EIDL program,” indicating a willful breach of the trust invested by the SBA in the businesses they aimed to support, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
