The U.S. SBA regularly publishes EIDL loan data for all past EIDL loan recipients. Click on a company's name to see additional loan details. provided fully guaranteed SBA loans for certain eligible small businesses, individuals, and . SBA has fired employees and contractors who were involved in approving loans to themselves or who inappropriately influenced loan approval. An estimated 1% of that 2009 stimulus was lost to fraud (some claim the rate is even lower than that). In April 2016, at the height of the deadliest drug epidemic in U.S. history, Congress effectively stripped the Drug Enforcement Administration of its most potent weapon against large drug companies suspected of spilling prescription narcotics onto the nations streets. In July, the agencys inspector general warned of potentially rampant fraud in the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program. Employers Beware: Non-Disparagement and Confidentiality Covenants in Consultation Paper On Review of Corporate Governance Norms For A High Californias War On The Fast-Food Industry Continues. A picture from that stay shows Pape and Jung celebrating over sparkling wine. Jungs attorney declined to comment, and Papes attorney did not respond to a request for comment. A Project On Government Oversight (POGO) review of court filings up to April 2, 2021, found that the charged individuals allegedly sought a total of nearly $445 million in Paycheck Protection Program loans. When facing a DOJ investigation, immediate defensive action is necessary. "The PPP is providing much-needed relief to millions of American small businesses . . That decision will result in a tax hit for many businesses that took out PPP loans, he said. Another round of PPP funds is needed because with the resurgence of COVID-19, businesses are seeing revenue fall again. Tax Preparer Charged with Submitting 118 Fraudulent PPP Loan Applications Also in March 2021, the DOJ filed charges against a South Florida tax preparer who is accused of submitting approximately 118 fraudulent PPP loan applications, on behalf of himself and his accomplices. According to the DOJ, the tax preparer falsified applicants income and expenses and submitted fraudulent tax forms. More than 3,500 state businesses got loans worth more than $1 million, while 103 businesses and other entities took out PPP loans worth exactly $150,000. Organizations approved for loans between $150,000 and $10 million $793B Amount Approved $742B Amount Forgiven Includes any accrued interest Number of loans by state About this data This data. All data in this search comes directly from the publicly available EIDL data on the SBA website. The hospitality industry would prefer to see the federal government give them targeted grants, similar to those provided to the airline industry, Longstreet said. The 117th Congress enhanced the PRAC, IG community, and law enforcement partners' efforts to fight fraud in small business loan programs with its passage of H.R. The SBA initially refused to release the names of businesses that obtained loans of less than $150,000. Associate There is further data we're working on for the loans under $150k however so check back in the future for that. As of late March, the department has obtained 48 convictions. Two of the companies, Symbiont Retailers and Horizon Enterprises, were not in good standing before the Paycheck Protection Program began. A check of Floridas Division of Corporations database would have revealed the companies had just been reinstated. The Small Business Administration distributed 5.8 million advance grants worth $20 billion last year (despite the name, these are not loans that have to be repaid). Just more than 25% of the businesses that got loans of less than $150,000 in Pennsylvania listed zero or didnt submit an answer to explain how many jobs the loans were supposedly helping to save. The Justice Department has brought charges in at least 56 cases for alleged Paycheck Protection Program fraud, according to a POGO review detailing trends in these first cases. The False Claims Act will play a central role in the Departments pursuit of COVID-19 related fraud, Michael Granston, a Justice Department deputy assistant attorney general, said in December. Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. That story of corruption inside SBA has been overshadowed by other criminal allegations against Greenberg, notably child sex trafficking charges, and a scandal that might bring down a member of Congress. According to an indictment, Sah submitted at least 15 fraudulent applications on behalf of at least 10 companies. Later in the summer, following legal pressure, the SBA opted to identify only the largest loan recipients. Many believe a high percentage of these grants were stolen, but some federal prosecutors with heavy caseloads may find it hard to justify Individuals and companies targeted in PPP loan fraud investigations should engage federal defense counsel promptly, and they should work with their counsel to build sound defense strategies. In December 2020, an independent auditor informed the SBA that, out of 5.2 million Paycheck Protection Program loans in 2020, the agency made over 2 million approved PPP loan guarantees worth some $189 billion potentially not in compliance with the law. As of this month, weve seized over $580 million from over 23,000 fraudulent EIDL loans., Weve got a process in place that once weve identified, for instance, a bank account that has money sitting in it, that was deposited through a fraudulent EIDL loan, we contact the Secret Service, and they have a method to go in and seize those funds, Grossman said. The Biden administration published a fact sheet on February 2 detailing new measures to prevent fraud in the program. If you look at the last round [of PPP] and you look at it on a time series, it almost looks like the largest businesses and businesses in high-income neighborhoods received money first and smaller businesses and businesses in low-income neighborhoods received money last, the Small Business Administrations Michael Roth told Politico in March. Attorney Advertising Notice: Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. That watchdog office has recommended that the agency use data analysis as a means to detect potentially ineligible and fraudulent applications.. (The latest round, which began in January, allowed some applicants to receive a second Paycheck Protection Program loan. U.S. Small Business Administration 409 3rd St, SW. Washington DC 20416 The involvement of a Small Business Administration employee in a pandemic loan fraud case raises questions about the agencys vetting of employees. Other government agencies also submit referrals of potential fraud to the office of inspector general, and suspicious activity reports come in through the financial industry by way of the Treasury Department. Each record represents a loan made from a commercial lending bank to a small business and backed by the federal government. Plastics industry insiders reveal the truth about recycling. $103B TOTAL LOAN AMOUNT. Anti-Corruption, Kevin M. Toomey Given the DOJs efforts to target PPP loan recipients as well as the substantial risks of criminal prosecution in these cases, what do PPP loan recipients need to know? The PPP loans helped struggling independent restaurants, as well as regional chains affiliated with national brand names, said John Longstreet, president and CEO of the Pennsylvania Restaurant and Lodging Association. Seven Charged in Fraud Ring (South Carolina - September 10) . The New Americans: How San Diego grapples with educating refugees. No attorney-client or confidential relationship is formed by the transmission of information between you and the National Law Review website or any of the law firms, attorneys or other professionals or organizations who include content on the National Law Review website. U.S. Small Business Administration 409 3rd St, SW. Washington DC 20416 According to the DOJ, the former candidate submitted a fraudulent loan application, including fictitious tax records, on behalf of a nonprofit in which she claimed the organization was paying 54 employees. California has a total of 1,270,615 businesses that received Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans from the Small Business Administration. Banks and other lenders have been filing a huge number of suspicious activity reports to the Treasury Departments Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (better known as FinCEN) related to the Paycheck Protection Program and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program. DC Circuit to Disputes Ancillary to Patent Matters: You Cant Sit Consumer Fraud PFAS Cases Continue To Rise. In the three decades since the laws passage, there have been only six whistleblower settlements involving FIRREA, yielding $19.9 billion in recoveries, but only $9.3 million in rewards to whistleblowers, according to Whistleblower Network News. According to the National Priorities Project, thats enough money to pay for both coronavirus vaccine doses for every American and 1.1 million full-time jobs at $15 an hour for an entire year. Under the False Claims Act (FCA) as well as the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act (FIRREA), either the government or whistleblowers with non-public information can initiate civil enforcement actions. The case was brought in Honolulu, Hawaii. Aqeel and others in the scheme allegedly used loan funds to pay individuals they claimed were employees but were actually fake employees, according to a court filing. He warned that increased loan volume, loan amounts, and expedited loan processing timeframes may make it more difficult for SBA to identity red flags in loan applications. The inspector general called for the agency to put in place sufficient controls, but the agency did not heed the watchdogs warnings at that time. The Government alleged that Christopher and Erin Mazzei submitted fraudulent loan applications and obtained over $1.3 million in COVID-19 relief funds. Evo Transportation & Energy Services, Inc. 1) Promptly identify PPP loans that have not been fully disbursed and follow-up with the lenders to stop $280 million in potential improper loan disbursements. Investigation Services . If Congress amends the underutilized Program Fraud Civil Remedies Act, efforts by inspectors general to fight fraud in pandemic related spending would be enhanced, according to Horowitzs testimony. Whether bad faith was involved is another matter. The remaining data was the focus of a . 7334. On January 11, in the final days of the Trump administration, the Small Business Administration began processing a new round of Paycheck Protection Program loans. More due diligence on the part of lenders or the Small Business Administration could have prevented at least some instances of fraud, especially when applicants appear to have inflated or fabricated payroll expenses or used defunct or bogus companies to illicitly obtain loans. When they believe they have unearthed sufficient evidence to allege the government has been defrauded, these individuals file qui tam lawsuits, Grossman said. Business groups have been lobbying to get Congress to quickly pass legislation to reverse the IRS guidance, he said. The Trial Attorneys in the MIMF Unit prosecute cases involving, government procurement fraud, bank fraud, mortgage fraud, and . We also have compiled state-by-state files for download. * Tracker contributor Aidan Mulry is not admitted to the practice of law. Civil enforcementwhere the evidentiary burden is lower than in criminal casesis another way of holding individuals and companies accountable. It Got a PPP Loan. The program provided loans of up to $10 million for small businesses to help them recover from the government-ordered shutdowns and revenue losses caused by the virus. The National Law Review is a free to use, no-log in database of legal and business articles. Aqeel used some of the proceeds to purchase a Lamborghini sports car, according to the Justice Department. Kindambu applied for two Paycheck Protection Program loans representing Papillon Holdings, Inc. and Papillon Air, Inc., according to court documents. The agencys Assistant Inspector General for Investigations Brian Grossman told POGO that not all of the referrals relate to the COVID-19 relief lending programs, but many of them do.. Investigating Power is a history of breakthrough investigations that revealed news and changed the national narrative on many major topics since the 1950s, from war to health to civil rights. For instance, in a review for the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee, the nonprofit MITRE Corporation examined a sample of 500 records for Paycheck Protection Program loans above $150,000. As further evidence of the DOJs continued focus on PPP loan fraud, the agency recently published a vacancy posting for Trial Attorneys who will be devoted to prosecuting cases under the CARES Act, including fraud under the PPP.
