Press Release: 7/8/2025

Azumi Limited Restaurants Agree to Pay $3.6 Million to Resolve False Claims Act Allegations Regarding Paycheck Protection Program Loans

BOSTON – Azumi, LLC; Zuma NYC, LLC; Zuma Las Vegas, LLC; Zuma Japanese Restaurant Miami, LLC; Inko Nito Garey St., LLC; and Beach Chu Hallandale, LLC (collectively, the “Azumi Entities”) have agreed to pay $3,602,423 to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by obtaining Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans for which they were not eligible.

The PPP, an emergency loan program established by Congress in March 2020 and administered by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), was intended to support small businesses struggling to pay employees and other business expenses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Borrowers were eligible to seek forgiveness of the loans if they spent the loan proceeds on employee payroll and other eligible expenses. In January 2021, SBA announced that certain parties that had previously received PPP loans were eligible to apply for a second loan, typically referred to as a second-draw PPP loan.

When applying for PPP loans, borrowers were required to certify the truthfulness and accuracy of all information provided in their loan applications and agree that they would comply with all PPP rules. Among other things, PPP rules limited the total amount of funding a single “corporate group” could receive in connection with both first draw and second draw loans.  

The Azumi Entities are limited liability companies, each of which operates a restaurant in the United States and each of which is either fully or partially owned by Azumi Limited. As part of the settlement, the Azumi Entities admitted that they collectively received and were granted loan forgiveness for second draw loans in a total amount that exceeded the applicable corporate group limit for second draw loans.  

“The Paycheck Protection Program limits were put in place to prevent large corporate groups from obtaining a disproportionate share of the limited funds that were available to assist small businesses struggling during COVID,” said United States Attorney Leah B. Foley. “Our office is committed to holding accountable those who misappropriated taxpayer-funded relief program limits.”

“PPP loans were intended to assist eligible small businesses during the pandemic,” said Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “When ineligible businesses improperly obtained loans, they harmed both the taxpayers who funded the program and the eligible businesses who were denied relief.”

The claims resolved in today’s settlement include claims that were brought under the qui tam or whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act.  Under the Act, a private party can file an action on behalf of the United States and receive a portion of any recovery.  The qui tam case is captioned United States ex rel. GNGH2, Inc. v. Azumi, LLC, et al., No. 22-cv-11822 (D. Mass. 2022). As part of today’s resolution, GNGH2, Inc. will receive approximately $360,000.

U.S. Attorney Foley and AAG Shumate made the announcement today. Valuable assistance was provided by the SBA’s Office of General Counsel and Office of the Inspector General. Assistant U.S. Attorney Julien M. Mundele of the Affirmative Civil Enforcement Unit handled the matter along with Trial Attorney Kimya Saied and Senior Trial Counsel Benjamin Wei of the Department of Justice’s Fraud Section.