Apr 10, 2025 - News

Herb Chambers dealerships to pay $11.8M in PPP fraud case

Mike Deehan

A man and a car dealership — Photo: Ted Fitzgerald/Boston Herald via Getty Images.

Car dealership chain owner Herb Chambers has agreed to pay $11.8 million to settle federal allegations that his companies fraudulently obtained pandemic-era government loans.

State of play: Federal prosecutors allege eight Chambers-owned companies requested Paycheck Protection Program loans after a decision by the Small Business Administration limited a single corporate group to $20 million.

A bank initially canceled Chambers' unfunded loan applications because of the cap, but the companies reapplied with a different bank that funded the loans.

The other side: Herb Chambers Companies CEO Nicolas Gennetti said the loan program violation stemmed from "conflicting professional advice" and "vague and unclear language" in the loan requirements.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Chambers' companies cooperated with federal investigators.
"All PPP loan proceeds were used for proper purposes, and there is no allegation otherwise," Gennetti said in a statement, according to MassLive.

Catch up quick: The 33-dealership, 52-franchise chain was sold for $1.34 billion in February to Georgia's Asbury Automotive Group.

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Herb Chambers dealerships to pay $11.8M in PPP fraud case

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