(Photo by Kevin Mathewson)
Can a furniture salesman take out $10,000 in forgivable dollars as a PPP loan? Not according to the research we’ve done at KCE. PPP loans are issued by private lenders and credit unions, and then they are backed by the Small Business Administration (SBA). The basic purpose of the PPP is to incentivize small businesses to keep workers on payroll and/or to rehire laid-off workers that lost wages due to COVID-19 disruptions. Jeffrey Gentz (D) sells furniture at Steinhafels in Kenosha – we verified this by calling the store. Until recently, Gentz was reportedly unemployed. We also told you that he had recently declared bankruptcy for three quarters of a million dollars. According to online records, Gentz took out two PPP loans for about $5,000 a piece. One was paid to “Jeffrey Gentz” and the other, “Jeffrey Gentz, DBA None.” DBA stands for “doing business as.”
Gentz’s first loan from May 5th of 2020 appears to have been completely forgiven – meaning, the tax-payers paid his loan back in full. The second loan from March 20th of 2021 has not yet been forgiven.
According to the Wisconsin department of financial institutions online records, Gentz doesn’t own any businesses as he is not registered as an agent. He did have an Limited Liability Corporation in 2015, but dissolved it in 2018. Fraudulent PPP applications are punishable by up to a $1,000,000 fine, 30 years in prison, or both.
We reached out to Gentz to see what business, if any he was claiming needed this free money for payroll. Gentz did not return our requests for comment.
3 Responses
That entire program was littered with fraud. Some of Kenosha’s richest people scored hundreds of thousands of benefits. Many more self employed Kenoshans scored lesser amounts. Maybe KCE should post the document. It would be a real eye-opener.
About Gentz. His only defense would be that he is not alone in his scam. Many others did the same thing. However, he is an elected official. I hope DOJ investigates.
Once again KCE breaks another story that the worthless KNews will not touch. Good for the KCE!
Anyone who has filed for bankruptcy should not be eligible to handling any type of finances for anyone let alone the County. What a fucking joke.
Yeah, this shithead should definitely be investigated for these PPP loans when he wasn’t even self-employed and doesn’t own a business.
Typical Democrat, reaching into the pockets of those who work hard and pay taxes. Did his recent bankruptcy qualify Gentz to be placed as County Finance Chairman?
How many Steinhafel customers would trust a salesman with Gentz’s Resume’?
I’m not holding my breath. If any legal proceeding occur, Democrat Prosecutors will usually give a slap on the wrist sentence to one of their own.