Anti-Israel group Jewish Voice for Peace forced to pay $677,634 for committing loan fraud
JVP was caught by the DOJ after it was discovered that it lied on a loan application for COVID-19 relief funds.
JVP ‘agreed to pay an amount equal to two-times the loan amount, or $677,634,’ according to the DOJ.
The anti-Israel group Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) recently entered into a settlement with the Department of Justice (DOJ) after it committed fraud to acquire $338,817 in COVID-19 pandemic relief loans.
JVP lied when it “applied for and received a $338,817 second-draw loan under the Paycheck Protection Act Program of the CARES Act Disaster Relief Program, and when it further applied for and was granted forgiveness of the entire amount of the loan,” the DOJ announced in a press release on Jan. 14.
The CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security ) Act was intended to alleviate the difficulties faced by Americans because of the COVID-19 lockdowns, but specifically excluded entities that “engaged in political or lobbying activities.”
JVP, which is known for its controversial anti-Israel advocacy, lied when it claimed on its application that it did not participate in such “political or lobbying activities.”
The group “contends that any misstatements in this application were inadvertent,” the DOJ wrote.
JVP “agreed to pay an amount equal to two-times the loan amount, or $677,634,” the DOJ announced.
U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves condemned JVP’s fraud, saying: “The Paycheck Protection Act Program existed to help businesses survive a devastating global pandemic. When business owners unfairly drain those funds – either by not reading the eligibility requirements or disregarding them – they put the entire program at risk. In the end, those who are harmed are the businesses that actually qualified for and needed the money, and the taxpayers who funded the program.”
JVP has been prominently involved in recent anti-Israel protests on college and university campuses, and a recent report exposed the group’s glorification of terrorists.
That report, published by StandWithUs on Jan. 7, found that JVP “campaigned in support of [Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine] terrorists, hosted PFLP members at events, and partnered with groups that openly support PFLP and other terrorist organizations,” among its other pro-terrorist activities.
StandWithUS also found that JVP received $65,000 from a group that could possibly be tied to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran, a designated foreign terrorist organization.
Campus Reform has contacted Jewish Voice for Peace for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
