The Big Con: Hedge Fund Managers Masquerade as Small Businesses to Demand Bailout Money
SEE: Bloomberg, 4/14: Hedge Fund Managers Are Claiming Bailouts as Small Businesses
Reaction from Derek Martin, director of Allied Progress: “Hedge fund managers don’t pay their fair share in taxes, cater exclusively to the wealthiest investors, and routinely engage in predatory financial practices that hurt Main Street. The idea that some believe they deserve a taxpayer assisted SBA loan before any one of the thousands of mom and pop stores on the brink of bankruptcy is simply odious. But it’s not surprising. Throughout this crisis, the Trump administration has been promising help to billion-dollar corporations before millions of workers at the end of their rope. Is it any wonder wealthy hedge fund managers are now asking: ‘Why not me?’
KEY POINTS FROM BLOOMBERG:
Free money.
That’s the enticing prospect hedge funds and other trading firms are pondering after realizing they too might be able to participate in a historic U.S. stimulus package to keep small businesses alive through the coronavirus pandemic.
Since early April, law firms have hosted Webinars and sent out alerts, and accounting firms have reached out to clients, all with the goal of explaining how they might be able to tap into the Paycheck Protection Program. The $349 billion package administered by the Small Business Administration provides loans to cover payroll, rent and utilities for up to eight weeks. The loans can convert to grants if recipients retain or rehire their workers.
Some hedge funds already have applied, filling out forms to show they have fewer than 500 employees and certifying the “current economic uncertainty makes this loan request necessary to support the ongoing operations.”
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