Scanlon Demands Oversight of Questionable PPP Payment to Buca Restaurants Inc.The PPP Loan was approved for a business headquartered at closed Buca Di Beppo Restaurant
EAST LANSDOWNE, PA,
August 12, 2020
Today, Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon sent a series of oversight letters to the Small Business Administration (SBA), PNC Bank, and Buca Restaurants, Inc concerning the questionable approval of a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan for Buca Restaurants Inc, headquartered at the former location of Buca di Beppo restaurant in Wynnewood, PA which has been closed for seven years.
The PPP Program was designed to support small business during the many challenges presented by the current global health and financial crisis.
In the letters, Congresswoman Scanlon wrote, “It is important that we conduct thorough oversight of the funds that have already been dispersed so that future funds can be fairly and effectively distributed. I am particularly concerned that the loan for Buca Restaurants Inc. lists an address in my district that is neither its registered business address nor its headquarters, and was the site of a Buca di Beppo restaurant that has been closed for seven years.”
Her letters continued, “It is important that the loan information provided to or disclosed by the SBA be accurate. American taxpayers deserve to know that PPP funds are being used for the intended purpose of saving businesses in their communities.”
Following bipartisan requests from members of Congress and Freedom of Information Act requests from journalists, the SBA agreed to disclose PPP loan information detailing where tax-payer funds had gone and how many jobs were saved.
“In its disclosure, the SBA revealed that a PPP loan saved 500 Buca di Beppo jobs in my district that do not exist, in addition to the SBA not providing information to correctly place jobs saved by retail or restaurant chains,” Congresswoman Scanlon continued.
The Congresswoman requests that Buca Restaurants Inc. and PNC Bank correct the inaccuracies in the loan application and calls on the SBA to affirm its commitment to transparency and integrity in order to safeguard the more than $500 billion in taxpayer funds distributed through the Paycheck Protection Program.
A copy of the aforementioned letters can be found here.
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