On December 17, 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that three American subsidiaries of China’s Greenland Holding Group have agreed to pay $7,312,283.36 to settle allegations of violating the False Claims Act by fraudulently obtaining Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans. This announcement came on Tuesday, December 16.
The three companies involved are Greenland LA Metropolis Hotel Development LLC, Greenland US Management LLC, and Greenland LA Metropolis Development III, collectively known as Greenland USA Entities. They are accused of providing false information to obtain PPP loans for which they were not eligible.
According to federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of Wisconsin, PPP was established by Congress to assist American small businesses during the pandemic, not to provide funding to large Chinese-owned corporations like Greenland USA Entities.
The settlement underscores the government’s commitment to combatting fraud and protecting American taxpayers. The allegations against Greenland USA Entities primarily revolve around two main points.
Firstly, they exceeded the employee threshold for both the first and second rounds of PPP loans due to the extensive workforce of their global affiliates, which surpasses the size limits set by the Small Business Administration (SBA) for small businesses.
Secondly, their ownership structure does not meet the eligibility criteria for the second round of PPP loans as over 20% of their shares are held by entities established in China.
Greenland Holding Group is a state-owned enterprise with its major shareholders including the Shanghai Real Estate Group and the Shanghai City Investment Group, subsidiaries of the Shanghai Municipal Government’s State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission.
Like many Chinese real estate developers, Greenland Group has been facing significant financial challenges recently and has been reported as one of the first state-owned real estate firms in China to experience a debt crisis and substantial debt pressure.
The civil settlement also resolves claims brought under the “whistleblower provisions” of the False Claims Act, allowing private individuals to file lawsuits on behalf of the United States and receive a portion of the recovered funds as a reward. The settlement addressed two related lawsuits initiated by GNGH2 Inc. and Aidan Forsyth, with the whistleblowers receiving $697,757.80 and $33,470.53 respectively as part of the settlement.
It is important to note that the allegations addressed in this settlement are just accusations and do not constitute a determination of legal liability that must be assumed.