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State officials will require owners atTank Noodle, the well-known Vietnamese restaurant in Uptown, to pay back a $150,000 business interruption grant designed to help businesses in Illinois remain viable through the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a spokesperson from the Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity (DCEO).
The announcement comes more than a month after the public learned that authorities would force ownersto pay nearly $700,000 to employeesafter a federal wage theft investigation. In March, theU.S. Department of Labor宣布,它已發現多個聯邦labor law violations at Tank Noodle, saying that owners failed to pay direct wages to 60 workers. Employees were allowed to collect a portion of pooled tips, but those were also garnished by managers who illegally siphoned off a share for themselves,according to a news releaseat the time.
It turns out that when Tank Noodle’s owners broke the law, they also violated the terms of the state’s grant program, according to a spokesperson from the Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity (DCEO). Grantees are required to certify their compliance with local and federal laws, and must attest that the business is not involved in any legal proceedings or criminal investigations. Tank Noodle received the $150,000 grant in September — a month before Department of Labor officials notified restaurant owners of their findings.
“After a review of Tank Noodle’s grant, DCEO has found them in violation and has requested the return of the award,” a spokesperson writes in a news release. “DCEO is actively working with the business owner to develop a payment plan to recover these funds. We continue to remind all business owners to remain compliant with the terms of their grant agreement as any violations could put their grant status at risk.”
2021 has gotten off to a rocky start for the restaurant, a longtime community anchor that opened in 2000 asPho Xe Tangon the corner of Broadway and Argyle. Tank Noodle’s owners began the year by sparking controversy over their presence at the January 6rally to support former President Donald Trumpin Washington D.C. That event later devolved into anattempted insurrection at the U.S. Capitolthat resulted in several deaths. Tank Noodle owners havepublicly condemned and denied participationin the violence that followed the pro-Trump gathering.
業主沒有立即返回請求comment. Staff deactivated Tank Noodle’soriginal Facebook pagein March after news from the Labor Department began to spread. Theyhave since resumed postingunder the restaurant’s Vietnamese name.