A federal judge on Thursday agreed to dismiss a lawsuit that claimed billionaire Tommy Duff, a potential candidate for Mississippi governor, his brother and their companies improperly obtained over $6.7 million in federal pandemic loans.
The billionaire brothers, the two wealthiest people in Mississippi, were being sued by California-based attorneys on behalf of the federal government based on allegations about the Paycheck Protection Program loans.
The attorneys filed legal paperwork on Wednesday to voluntarily dismiss their lawsuit. District Judge Kristi H. Johnson agreed to the dismissal on Thursday morning. The lawsuit’s withdrawal came just over two months after attorneys for the Duffs successfully had the case transferred from a California federal court to a Mississippi federal court.
In a statement, Matt Miller, an attorney for the Duffs, celebrated the dismissal as a “complete and total victory for the Duff brothers” in a lawsuit he said was “recklessly” filed by attorneys looking to cash in on a settlement.
“From the beginning of this baseless case, we have stated that the facts show that the Duffs, under the guidance of competent accounting and legal professionals, always followed the law in obtaining PPP loans during the COVID-19 pandemic to help protect their employees,” Miller said. “The Duffs remained focused throughout COVID on supporting their 16,000 employees, many of whom were kept employed, even when many Duff businesses were forced to cut back. Tommy and Jim Duff have always, and will always, continue to do what’s in the best interest of the people here in Mississippi who are part of their family of businesses.”
The plaintiff in the case is Relator LLC, a group formed, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, by California attorneys Anoush Hakimi and Peter Shahriari. The notice of voluntary dismissal filed by attorney Kristen Nelson, who is representing the California attorneys, cited the federal government’s decision to avoid litigating the case itself, and said the factual claims in the lawsuit had not been a factor in the dismissal.
“The dismissal is not the result of any settlement or payment, and no party has paid or agreed to pay any consideration in connection with the dismissal,” Nelson wrote. “No claims have been adjudicated on the merits, and Relator has elected to dismiss its claims without further amendment.”
Nelson did not immediately respond to a request for more information on her client’s decision to withdraw the lawsuit. Reached by phone, Grafton Eric Bragg, a Mississippi-based attorney who had been working with Nelson as local counsel, said he was not authorized to comment on the case.
The lawsuit, which was filed under seal in the U.S. Northern District of California in 2024, claimed the brothers took advantage of a program designed to help small businesses cope with the pandemic. Attorneys for Duff sharply contested the claims, arguing the lawsuit relied on “inflammatory rhetoric” instead of facts.
The suit was filed under the federal False Claims Act and alleged the Duffs and their companies falsely claimed eligibility for the loans. The suit was brought by a “relator,” a legal term for a private entity suing as a whistleblower on behalf of the government to recover money.
The Justice Department investigated the allegations in the complaint and in June of 2025, federal prosecutors declined to intervene. But the federal prosecutors allowed the private attorneys to file the lawsuit on behalf of the U.S. government.
After the California attorneys asked to withdraw the lawsuit on Wednesday, Baxter Kruger, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi, said acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche consented to the dismissal of the lawsuit “based on its determination that such a dismissal is commensurate with the public interest and that the matter does not warrant the continued expenditure of government resources” to pursue the case.
Kruger, who was appointed by President Donald Trump in 2025, also requested that all sealed documents in the case remain under seal, and Johnson agreed.
Before reversing course, the attorneys who filed the case had argued in legal filings that the Duffs “falsified loan documents” to the Small Business Administration in order to obtain taxpayer-funded payments through the PPP. Congress created the program in March of 2020 to keep businesses afloat as the global economy shuddered to a halt at the outset of the pandemic.
The Duffs applied for loans under the program, and some of their businesses received a total of over $6.7 million, according to court records. The plaintiffs said the Duffs should never have received the loans because they had access to substantial money through their multi-billion-dollar conglomerate. The Duffs then “doubled down on their misappropriation by seeking loan forgiveness” for a program they were never eligible for in the first place, the attorneys argued.
In subsequent court filings, the Duffs’ legal team rejected all the allegations and said their clients obtained the loans lawfully for the purpose of keeping “hard-working people employed and paid.” A memo outlining the Duffs’ motion to dismiss filed last week said the Duffs complied with all requirements laid out by the federal government for companies and franchisees applying for PPP loans.
The Duffs’ legal team has also pointed out that the California attorneys have filed similar lawsuits against others, some of which have also been dismissed. They argue the lawsuit is the product of trial lawyers looking to cash in on confusion surrounding pandemic-era government programs.
Court records show the Duffs and the plaintiff lawyers have agreed to pay for their own attorneys’ fees in the case. In his statement, Miller said the Duffs continue to “evaluate all available legal remedies” against the plaintiff due to “the incredibly frivolous nature and outrageous false allegations set forth in the lawsuit.”
Tommy Duff, 69, and Jim Duff have built a multi-billion-dollar business empire that started as a small tire shop. Thomas Duff has been a political power broker in Mississippi and a philanthropist. He served an eight-year stint on the state Institutions of Higher Learning Board, first appointed by former Gov. Phil Bryant, and has been a major contributor to many Republican campaigns in Mississippi.
Tommy Duff has said he is considering running for governor in 2027, but has not officially announced a decision.
Hence then, the article about ppp loan lawsuit against billionaires tommy duff and his brother dismissed was published today ( ) and is available on Mississippi Today ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( PPP loan lawsuit against billionaires Tommy Duff and his brother dismissed )
Also on site :