On September 25, 2026, the Department of Justice announced that it reached a $3,088,605 settlement with United Abrasives, Inc. (“United Abrasives”), the Connecticut-based subsidiary of SAIT Finanziaria S.p.A. (“SAIT”), a company headquartered in Italy, to resolve allegations from Gregg Shapiro’s whistleblower client that United Abrasives improperly obtained a $1,983,555 second draw Paycheck Protection Program loan. Gregg filed the whistleblower’s False Claims Act qui tam complaint in October 2025.
Under the second draw of the PPP, a business could receive a forgivable loan of up to $2 million, but not if it and its affiliates had more than 300 employees.
In the settlement, the Department of Justice alleged that, when United Abrasives applied for its second draw loan, it falsely certified that it had fewer than 300 employees. In fact, according to the allegations in the settlement agreement, United Abrasives and its affiliates collectively employed more than 300 employees at the time of the second draw loan application.
The whistleblower will receive approximately $308,860 of the settlement amount.
The whistleblower and his counsel commend the expeditious work of Assistant United States Attorney Sara Kaczmarek on this matter.