Locally owned CoreLife Eatery to pay nearly $8 million in lawsuit over pandemic relief funds
NewsChannel 9 has obtained a copy of the court documents that allege the restaurant lied about the number of restaurants it had in order to get pandemic relief funds.
Currently, CoreLife Eatery has 36 locations, with 15 in New York and three in Central New York.
According to the lawsuit filed by the United States Department of Justice, Northern District of New York, they are ordering CoreLife Eatery to pay $7.8 million for falsely certifying its eligibility for a Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF) grant.
Back in March of 2021, Congress moved forward with the American Rescue Plan Act as a continuation of the federal government's efforts to help provide relief to American individuals and businesses who were suffering as a result of the pandemic.
According to the filing, the Act allocated $28.6 billion toward an RRF, to be administered by the United States Small Business Administration (SBA), that could grant qualifying restaurants and other 'eligible entities' money awards equal to revenue losses caused by the pandemic. A restaurant was not an 'eligible entity' if, as of March 13, 2020, it (together with its 'affiliated businesses') owned or operated more than 20 locations.
On May 3, 2021, CoreLife applied for an RRF grant for the amount of $3,904,686.55, but per the guidelines, they were actually ineligible as at the time, they had 29 locations.
A question on the grant's application asked if CoreLife owned or operated more than 20 locations as of March 13, 2020. A managing member responded to that question with 'no.'
The filing stated that CoreLife has since admitted to, acknowledged, and accepted responsibility for the wrongdoings regarding the grant.
The chain also has locations in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, and Kentucky.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WSYR.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
35 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Toronto approaching pre-pandemic tourism levels, thanks to bump in visitors from U.K., Germany
Toronto is getting closer to pre-pandemic levels of tourists in the city, which Destination Toronto says is thanks in part to an increase in European travellers. "The city is doing well," said Kathy Motton, senior manager of corporate communications at Destination Toronto. "There's a lot of interest from Canadians wanting to travel in Canada and stay in their country," she said. "We are seeing that the U.S. is down, not surprisingly, but in turn the international market is up." Toronto welcomed nine million visitors in 2024, according to Destination Toronto figures, just 600,000 shy of the number of visitors it welcomed in 2019 pre-pandemic. Canadians led the way, with American visitors coming second at 1.6 million. However, Motton says visits dropped four per cent year over year in the first quarter of 2025, owing to "ongoing geopolitical and economic uncertainty." While she says "it's too early for a full 2025 projection," Motton also says the summer is helping Toronto make up for lower numbers earlier in the visitors from U.K., Germany Visitors from the United Kingdom and Germany were both up in June by six per cent each, year over year, Motton says, noting it may be a result of Europeans looking for new places to travel. Toronto is an attractive destination for Europeans due to cost, says Wayne Smith, a tourism professor at Toronto Metropolitan University. "The euro versus Canadian dollar is doing very well, so Toronto actually looks like a value destination," said Smith. "They're paying close to $200 a night. And when you compare to European prices, it actually becomes a value type destination for them." Smith says what's happening in the U.S. is also probably playing a role in bringing European travellers to Toronto. "Canada has been in the news a lot so it becomes more top of mind," he said. "Because of the U.S. situation and with visas and fears about ICE – you add in some of the economic component to it, all of a sudden Canada looks like a much more attractive destination versus the U.S." Toronto is also attractive to Europeans because it's a closer destination than places like Calgary or Vancouver, Smith says. Destination Toronto opened new offices in the U.K. and Germany in June in an effort to attract more European tourists to the city. Motton says she expects numbers will grow from those countries, especially as we get close to the FIFA 2026 World Cup, which Toronto is co-hosting. "Once we hear which countries are going to be playing here, I think we're going to see a lot of interest from the various different countries that are playing here in the city," she said. Meanwhile, Henry Greisman, a manager at Toonie Tours, one of Toronto's walking tour operators, says he's seeing an increase in visitors from South America. The company, which offers Spanish tours, has had to add additional tours to meet demand, he says. "We would take on average say 15, maybe 18 passengers on a tour and they go on a three hour tour in downtown Toronto. This year we are seeing upwards of 25 and our maximum is 30 guests on a tour," Greisman said. Americans remain key to tourism recovery: experts Still, Greisman says he's noticed a decline in U.S. visitors so far this year — a decline both Smith and Motton say is important to turn around. "We're going to continue to market to the Americans," Motton said, noting U.S. visitors to Toronto are down nine per cent since 2024. Their return is crucial to a true tourism recovery, Smith says. "When you're looking at a three-to-one ratio, three U.S. tourists to every international tourist, which is sort of our traditional realm, what you're finding is that would be an awfully large market to give up entirely," he said.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
More American citizens are trying to migrate to these Caribbean islands this year. Here's how to join them
Americans are racing to take advantage of Caribbean nations offering citizenship by investment schemes, programs that grant citizenship to overseas investors willing to put six-figure investments into their new home countries. "Up to 70% of all buyers right now are wanting citizenship, and the vast majority are from the US," Nadia Dyson, a realtor in Antigua, told the BBC. "We don't talk politics with them, but the unstable political landscape [in the US] is definitely a time last year, it was all lifestyle buyers and a few CBI. Now they're all saying 'I want a house with citizenship'. We've never sold so many before." Lawyers in the U.S. faced a similar deluge of calls about the programs during the 2024 election of Donald Trump, according to the American Bar Association. 'In general, it comes in uncertain times,' Betina Schlossberg, an attorney at Schlossberg Legal, told a 2024 ABA report. 'We never thought of people just running away from the United States. All of a sudden, people feel uneasy, and they want to be ready.' The investment consultancy Henley & Partners has clocked a similar trend, noting the majority of applications for such programs came from U.S. citizens over the last year, part of a general surge in interest that saw applications to these schemes increase 12 percent overall. A variety of Caribbean nations offer such programs, including Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, and St. Lucia. Dominica's program has the lowest door to investment of the group, at $200,000, while St. Kitts and Nevis has the highest barrier, at $250,000. Many of the programs also confer wider visa benefits. Investors in Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, and St. Lucia get travel access to Europe's Schengen Area. The programs have attracted a measure of controversy on the islands themselves, as well as from the governments of the U.S. and Europe, which have expressed concern that the investments could be used to avoid taxes or shield financial crimes. Nonetheless, their defenders point to success stories like Dominica's initiative raising more than $1 billion, or Antigua's program helping the country avoid bankruptcy. Similarly situated European nations — ones with equally desirable locations, with economies heavily dependent on tourism — also offer 'golden passport' schemes, including Italy, Greece, and Portugal, each with investment floors of about $250,000.
New York Post
2 hours ago
- New York Post
Columbia Sportswear sues Columbia University over merch in latest legal battle for Ivy
For decades, T-shirts, sweatshirts and other clothing under the Columbia Sportswear brand and clothing emblazoned with the Columbia University name coexisted more or less peacefully without confusion. But now, the Portland-based outdoor retailer has sued the New York-based university over alleged trademark infringement and a breach of contract, among other charges. It claims that the university's merchandise looks too similar to what's being sold at more than 800 retail locations including more than 150 of its branded stores as well as its website and third-party marketplaces. Columbia Sportswear has filed a lawsuit against Columbia University because the campus's merchandise looks identical to its brand. Columbia Sportswear In a lawsuit filed July 23 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon, Columbia Sportswear, whose roots date back to 1938, alleges that the university intentionally violated an agreement the parties signed on June 13, 2023. That agreement dictated how the university could use the word 'Columbia' on its own apparel. As part of the pact, the university could feature 'Columbia' on its merchandise provided that the name included a recognizable school insignia or its mascot, the word 'university,' the name of the academic department or the founding year of the university — 1754 — or a combination. But Columbia Sportswear alleges the university breached the agreement a little more than a year later, with the company noticing several garments without any of the school logos being sold at the Columbia University online store. Many of the garments feature a bright blue color that is 'confusingly similar' to the blue color that has long been associated with Columbia Sportswear, the suit alleged. The lawsuit details that the Ivy League institution violated an agreement the parties signed on June 13, 2023. Spiroview Inc. – The lawsuit offered photos of some of the Columbia University items that say only Columbia. 'The likelihood of deception, confusion, and mistake engendered by the university's misappropriation and misuse of the Columbia name is causing irreparable harm to the brand and goodwill symbolized by Columbia Sportswear's registered mark Columbia and the reputation for quality it embodies,' the lawsuit alleged. The lawsuit comes at a time when Columbia University has been threatened with the potential loss of billions of dollars in government support. Last week, Columbia University reached a deal with the Trump administration to pay more than $220 million to the federal government to restore federal research money that was canceled in the name of combating antisemitism on campus. Under the agreement, the Ivy League school will pay a $200 million settlement over three years, the university said. Columbia Sportswear aims to stop all sales of clothing that violate the agreement, recall any products already sold and donate any remaining merchandise to charity. Columbia Sportswear is also seeking three times the amount of actual damages determined by a jury. Neither Columbia Sportswear or Columbia University couldn't be immediately reached for comment.
