The son of a South Dakota state senator has received coronavirus relief grants and loans from the state, despite the fact that the son, his family and their taxidermy business are located in Texas.
South Dakota News Watch reporter Bart Pfankuch looked into the situation and has more.
Find more information on this topic on the South Dakota News Watch website.
“The son of a South Dakota state senator received more than $1 million in COVID relief funding for a business he says is located in Union Center, S.D., but which public records and other data indicate actually operates in Texas.
Chris Cammack, son of South Dakota Senate Majority Leader Gary Cammack, received more than $700,000 in state coronavirus relief funds under a program designed to help businesses in South Dakota recover losses suffered during the pandemic. Rules of the program require that small businesses “must be physically located in South Dakota” in order to qualify for the funding.
Chris Cammack also received more than $300,000 in forgivable Paycheck Protection Program loans from the federal government to keep 10 workers employed during the pandemic at his taxidermy shop that he says is located in Union Center.
Chris Cammack owns Prairie Mountain Wildlife Studios, a business he started more than a decade ago in a building on the Cammack family ranch in Union Center, a town of 400 in Meade County.
However, a News Watch investigation using tax and property documents, interviews, and a public statement from Chris Cammack indicates that Prairie Mountain Wildlife Studios is run from a site in Cypress, Texas, where Cammack owns a 7,300-square-foot studio building and he and his wife Felicia own an $880,000 home.
In March 2020, Chris Cammack told a legislative committee that his taxidermy business outgrew the location in Union Center, and that he and his wife bought a new studio in Texas. Prairie Mountain was merged with Brush Country Studios and the business operates from Cypress, Texas, according to the company website and Texas tax records.
Chris Cammack did not respond to request for an interview for the News Watch article, and a state official said he was unable to discuss individual applicants or grants.
Submitting false information to either the state or federal coronavirus relief programs can be considered fraud. So far, however, a state official says that no fraud has been found in the South Dakota relief program, though roughly a dozen complaints and more than 100 mistakes are being looked at by independent auditing firms hired by the state. In all, the state coronavirus relief program gave more than $490 million in payments to 5,833 applicants that included small businesses, healthcare groups and business startups.
For South Dakota News Watch, I’m Bart Pfankuch.”
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