Richland, Washington – Acting United States Attorney Richard Barker announced that BNL Technical Services, LLC (BNL) has been sentenced for a scheme to fraudulently obtain COVID-19 relief funding. Chief United States District Judge Stanley A. Bastian ordered the company to pay $493,865 in restitution and imposed one year of probation to ensure prompt payment. Additionally, BNL's owner, Wilson Pershing Stevenson III from Nashville, Tennessee, paid $1,105,498 as part of a civil fraud settlement related to the case.
Court documents revealed that between 2020 and 2021, BNL provided contract labor services to Hanford Site prime contractors. Despite their employees being paid by the Department of Energy (DOE) during the pandemic when they were teleworking or on standby at home, BNL applied for and received a $493,865 Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan in April 2020. The PPP was established under the CARES Act to help small businesses mitigate economic impacts from COVID-19.
BNL fraudulently obtained PPP funds for employees whose salaries were already covered by DOE contracts and other federal sources like the Veterans Administration. More than $424,230 of these funds were used for unauthorized expenditures shortly after receipt.
In August 2021, Stevenson requested forgiveness for the PPP loan by falsely certifying its use for eligible expenses between April and October 2020.
“We are proud of our law enforcement partners... successfully prosecuted this blatant and fraudulent misuse of PPP funds,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Rich Barker. “Our COVID-19 Strike Force continues to hold accountable those that fraudulently obtained and misused federal funds set aside to help small businesses in our community.”
Lewe F. Sessions from the Department of Energy's Office of Inspector General stated: “The misuse of critical emergency funds intended for those personally affected by the COVID-19 pandemic defrauds taxpayers.” Dimitriana Nikolov from the VA Office of Inspector General added: “This sentencing sends a message that... will diligently pursue those who would illegally line their pockets at the expense of the taxpayer.”
Weston King from SBA OIG’s Western Region remarked: “Today’s sentencing is a testament... bringing fraudsters to justice.”
The investigation was conducted by multiple agencies including the Department of Energy's Office of Inspector General and others. Assistant United States Attorneys Tyler H.L. Tornabene and Dan Fruchter are prosecuting this case.