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The U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday that it has reached a $2.2 million settlement with an automotive die-casting manufacturer accused of improperly obtaining a Paycheck Protection Program loan during the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the DOJ, Alupress LLC received a Small Business Administration loan in 2021 despite failing to meet eligibility requirements. To qualify under the program, borrowers were required to have no more than 300 employees, including workers employed by foreign affiliates. Federal prosecutors said Alupress was part of an Italian industrial group whose combined workforce exceeded that threshold at the time of the loan.

“The Paycheck Protection Program was designed to support small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Michael DiGiacomo, U.S. attorney for the Western District of New York, said in a statement. “This office continues to work tirelessly to recover taxpayer dollars that were improperly obtained when large companies receive loans by skirting eligibility rules.”

The settlement resolves allegations raised in a False Claims Act lawsuit filed in New York federal court by GNGH2 Inc., a New Jersey-based company. The complaint alleged that Alupress unlawfully secured a $1.75 million PPP loan that was later forgiven in December 2021. The False Claims Act allows private parties to bring lawsuits on behalf of the federal government.

Court records show that GNGH2 voluntarily dismissed its case on Monday following the settlement.

Alupress LLC is a subsidiary of Alupress AG, which is headquartered in Italy and owned by Italian-based Tehnicon AG, according to corporate disclosures.

The DOJ emphasized that the settlement includes no admission of liability by Alupress.

Representatives for the company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The case is United States ex rel. GNGH2 Inc. v. Alupress LLC, case number 1:25-cv-00455, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York.