The Small Business Administration just announced the suspension of 111,620 California borrowers after uncovering a massive $8.6 billion in suspected fraudulent activity linked to pandemic relief programs. SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler emphasized that this crackdown is the most significant effort yet against those who allegedly defrauded the government during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The SBA reported that these individuals received a total of 118,489 loans through two major programs: the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL). If you recall, PPP was the federal program designed to give small businesses money to keep their workers employed when the economy shut down. EIDL loans were meant to provide low-interest disaster relief funds to help businesses survive the crisis.
