There is something that is not clear upfront in the PPP relief money for small businesses. The Paycheck Protection Program requires people to find a lender, have good credit, and keep or add employees. That is not easy when many of these businesses have been virtually out of clients for an entire year and more. Now, we discover what the king of Mar-a-Lago is up to these days.
It appears that his attorneys were among the first with their hands in the Scottish jobs protection money till. Union officials have called this a “scandal” and want the government to begin an investigation into the matter.
Donald Trump owns two Scottish golf resorts. These took in the range of $800,000 in British government subsidies to protect jobs during the coronavirus pandemic, according to The Huffington Post. Not one to follow anybody’s rules, Trump fired “scores” of those employees, according to a top union official.
One of the ex-president’s courses, SLC Turnberry Ltd., took the bulk of the Scottish taxpayer funds, in the range of $700,000. His Balmedie resort, Aberdeenshire, received somewhere in the range of $100,000 in just two months, government records revealed in The Scottish Sun.
The National Union of Rail, Maritime, and Transport Workers complained to The Scotsman that Trump’s parent company had been “hoovering up” public money. Then, The Trump Organization cut staff jobs. Never mind that the program was meant to save jobs.
Turnberry in Ayrshire fired 65 employees in the past year, according to the Union. Although some of them had been rehired, they returned at a reduced payment schedule.
RMT’s General Secretary Mick Cash was abashed. He commented on Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs Department’s decision, The Huffington Post reported:
‘It is clear to us that at the very least the principles of the job retention scheme appear to have been breached by the Trump Organization, and that should now be subjected to a detailed and forensic investigation. It’s a scandal.’
When Trump came to Scotland and Ireland, he courted their governments. His plan was to build golf resorts in both of the countries. One tool he had at his disposal was promising very significant returns on their money — major tax revenues.
Did it surprise anyone that the Trump Organization had not paid any taxes due to consistently reported losses, according to The Fobes Magazine?
The Scots’ government gave Turnberry $147,000 in tax breaks back in 2017. It was meant to help companies in need. Later the government dumped Trump’s company.
A member of the Scottish Parliament from the Green Party, Patrick Harvie, commented after the decision was already finished:
‘It’s bad enough that he has a business presence in Scotland. It’s galling to learn that the public purse is giving him a helping hand.’
Apparently, Trump did not discriminate in where he finagled money. His luxury tenants dipped into the PPP bucket, according to NBC News:
‘Analysis found that tenants paying rent at properties owned by the Trump Organization as well as the Kushner Companies, owned by the family of Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, benefited financially from the PPP program.’
‘These tenants received loans, which they then were required to put toward rent for the loans to be forgiven. The data did not show that the Trump Organization received PPP loans for its properties.’
NBC News continued with the details:
‘Over 25 PPP loans worth more than $3.65 million were given to businesses with addresses at Trump and Kushner real estate properties, paying rent to those owners. Fifteen of the businesses self-reported that they only kept one job, zero jobs, or did not report a number at all.’
The Mueller Report Adventures: In Bite-Sizes on this Facebook page. These quick, two-minute reads interpret the report in normal English for busy people. Mueller Bite-Sizes uncovers what is essentially a compelling spy mystery. Interestingly enough, Mueller Bite-Sizes can be read in any order.
