DOJ is Starting to Bring Charges for PPP Fraud

The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed its first criminal fraud charge in connection with the PPP loans. The DOJ is alleging that two businessmen committed fraud in connection with their bank loan applications fraudulently seeking more than a half-million dollars in forgivable loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. 

In one of the cases, it is alleged that the business owner who claimed he had a number of full-time employees (including himself) falsely represented to the agent that he brought the employees on full-time on Jan. 1, 2020, and laid them off at the end of March 2020. The business owner further claimed the employees continued to work without being paid through April 2020, and that he would use SBA PPP funds to pay them. For more see this link. For Specific Case information See: United States v. Butziger and United States v. Staveley

The DOJ expects to bring additional charges against those who have committed fraud in seeking SBA loans under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. 

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