Locally owned CoreLife Eatery to pay nearly $8 million in lawsuit over pandemic relief funds
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) — North Syracuse-based restaurant CoreLife Eatery, known for its salads and healthy foods, has been ordered to pay almost $8 million for falsely claiming they were eligible for 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 This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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